Broken
by BowandArrow08
Summary: This wasn't the Kagome he knew.This girl did not even remind him of the woman he had grown to love.And as he looked at her withdrawn form and tearstained face he could not help but feel remorse as he realized that all of this was entirely his fault.Ika
1. Broken

Hey guys! I'm back with my new story, so much better than the first one by the way and I will be updating about every few days depending on how many reviews I get, you know how it goes, so since my other story was basically shot down considering I only got 2 reviews, which is okay because it wasn't that great anyways, I am going to have to regret telling you that I will not update unless I have at least 3 reviews! I'm sorry but seriously, fellow authors know that when you don't get reviews that your self-esteem goes really down. I have promise for this story and I hope it goes really well. Sorry for the short chapter by the way, it's the first one kind of an introductory if you will, longer chapters will be on the way! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the other characters mentioned except for the ones I myself have made up!

Chapter 1 Broken

The sun was shining, the day was happy, well, that is except for one lonely miko. The beautiful day was completely contradicting of the mood she was having. The reason being that Inuyasha had gone to see _her_ again. Every time he left, a little part of Kagome left with him; a part she would never get back. It had all started when the gang had heard a rumor about a shikon shard in a southern village. It was getting towards sunset and Miroku had decided that he had sensed an "ominous cloud" hanging over one of the houses. And of course it had nothing to do with the fact that it was the hugest house in the village, of course not. They were just about to head inside when Kagome had seen one of Kikyo's soul collectors in the forest. Immediately she was very upset, she knew Inuyasha would go to see her. He always would, no matter where they were, or what condition they were in, he would always find her. It hurt her every time she saw them, and for some odd reason she always kept following them. It was like she was being beckoned to them, having to watch them proclaim their love for each other while a piece of her heart broke away every time. She often wondered what would happen when there was none left to break. Kagome wondered about many things, the future, and their upcoming battle with Naraku, what she was going to do after the jewel was finished. These thoughts plagued her mind day and night, and it just seemed they wouldn't go away. She had been with them for over three years now. She was now about 18 and realized that she would soon be old enough to withdraw herself out of school, which was good in a sense because she didn't have time for her other life back in her era. It just wasn't working out. He friends all thought she should be dead by now, as awful as that sounds, she has had so many "diseases". And she knew that pretty soon it would be the time for her to drop out. After that she didn't know what she was going to do. She felt she didn't belong there anymore, almost like she never did. The things she use to do don't interest her anymore. Boys, music, the hottest clothes, nothing, everything just felt dull compared to the feudal era. She had even considered staying in the feudal era once the jewel was complete. And that is even if Inuyasha did go to hell with Kikyo. In her mind he would always be with her, she loved him, and at least in the feudal era, she would have a little part of him when he left. She would miss her family dearly, but that world was just not her world anymore. (But back on to the story…) The minute Inuyasha had seen Kikyo's soul collectors, he immediately thought of something he needed to take care of. Kagome and the others were all thinking the same thing…_ 'Who does he think he's fooling?' _Kagome had almost instantaneously become withdrawn, and everyone knew the process by now. Inuyasha would leave for Kikyo; Kagome would become depressed until he got back; when Inuyasha eventually came back Kagome would go from depressed to angry and they would start a yelling match that ended with a few "sits" and then she would go home. Although, Inuyasha couldn't have picked a worse time to leave if he had even tried…

"Kagome! Run!" Miroku had apparently yelled just in time too, because right where Kagome had been standing a minute ago the huge demon had hurled a huge tree there.

"This demon just won't give up!" Miroku by this time was completely out of breath, every time they hacked a piece off of this thing, he would have to use his wind tunnel to suck it up. And then, it would all be vein because it would grow right back! It was a long and torturous process.

"Where is Inuyasha when you need him?" Sango had been trying to lead the demon away from the village. Shippo, had been left in one of the village houses, hiding so he would not be hurt. The group didn't want any villagers or Shippo to be injured. But with no such luck, the demon was apparently not as dumb as he was suppose to be and knew exactly what they were all doing. Through all of this though, the demon only had one thing on its mind…the shikon shards.

Inuyasha had been running for a little while now, he was still following Kikyo's soul collectors. He hated having to keep going to her like this, in all reality he knew he didn't love Kikyo, he knew this for a fact. He also knew who he did love. _'Kagome'._ His thought's immediately brightened with just the thought of the miko's name. He loved her with all of his heart, and it is kind of funny when you figure out that he knew this from the start. (haha it rhymed!) He remembered the day when he first fell for Kagome. It was about three years ago when she had just fallen down the well. Immediately he had thought she was Kikyo, but soon after figured out that she was a whole different person entirely. After that dark priestess had brought Kikyo back to life he knew that he loved Kagome, as odd as it sounds. He had soon realized that they were two completely different people, and that is just how he wanted it. Kagome was energetic, fun, kind, spontaneous and so much more. Kikyo was just filled with hatred now, and darkness. At first he had thought that this was just because Kikyo had been resurrected and now she was different. But, then he realized that that even before she died, she had still had some darkness in her heart, of course, she wasn't as dark as she was now, by no means. However, she would always complain about having to be the priestess to watch over the jewel and how she just wanted to be a normal woman. Once she had even asked him to turn human just so she could be free. He had considered it as well; he thought he was in love at the time. It turns out that both of them were just very lonely and needed a friend. But, really how strong could their feelings have been for one another since Naraku had tricked them so easily? It was now that he realized he loved Kagome. Kikyo had wanted him to change, she had only been thinking about her self at the time, Not to mention when they would meet it would always be in private, giving off the sense that she did not want to be seen with him. She didn't like being seen with a hanyou and Inuyasha felt so stupid for believing he had ever loved her. _'I can't believe how stupid I was, she was only using me. Kagome has always stayed by my side; always helped me through everything. Kikyo has only tried to kill me, and change me. I never really loved Kikyo; I was just desperate because no one would except me. Now though, people accept me, more so anyway, and it's always because of Kagome.'_

He always felt bad for leaving her. He knew she didn't like it when he left to go with Kikyo, he knew it! He also knew that Kagome felt something for him, he was rest assured though she would never be able to love him as much as he loves her. _'That's if she even loves me.'_ Inuyasha had to admit, he pretty much knew his love was a one-sided ordeal, but he would always love her. Inuyasha knew Kagome cared about him, but she would never be able to _love _him, for he was just a stupid half-breed. Sometimes though, he thought he would see some unknown emotion flicker in her eyes, or the way she would just watch him while she thought he wasn't looking. It was odd, but Inuyasha enjoyed it when she would just look at him, he couldn't tell what her eyes were trying to tell him, but he knew that he would always be there to love, care, and protect for her. He also knows that it seriously hurts her every time he went off to see Kikyo. (a/n: gee he knows lots of things)But he had to. It was his duty, a duty he didn't like doing, but nonetheless it had to be done. He would see what she wanted and then leave, there would be nothing else, that was the extent of their conversations now. Kikyo would of course always try to do something more, but Inuyasha, to be honest, really didn't want to have anything to do with it. He had promised he would protect Kikyo and get revenge for what happened to them, but he would not keep his other part of the promise. He will not go to hell with her. He wanted to live, to be free for once, and not have to worry about anything, anything that is except for Kagome. After all of this was over he decided that he would ask Kagome to be his mate, he was so nervous, but he wanted to. After Naraku was gone and Kikyo put to rest, then he could finally be with Kagome. That thought alone kept him going each day.

He stopped in the middle of the forest where there was a clearing. It was very, majestic, you could say. There was a small waterfall that went into a little pool of water, a small lake possibly. The rocks that surrounded the clearing had the waterfall coming down off of them with sakura blossoms growing out of the cracks. The clearing was canopied by trees with only a little bit of moonlight showing through, which it was a full moon by the way. This gave it a kind of florescent glow that was, well it just was a setting that one would enjoy, but Inuyasha was far from enjoying being there. Kikyo was standing by the waterfall, she may have looked beautiful standing there in the middle of this scenery _'but not as beautiful as Kagome'_, at least that's what Inuyasha thought.

"Hello Inuyasha, I knew you would come to me."

"Kikyo." Inuyasha really did not know what to say to her anymore. He was silently asking the question "Is there something you needed" without having to actually say it. Plus, he was a little eager to get back to Kagome; he missed her already, that and the fact that he didn't like leaving her alone, _'that wench will never be able to take care of herself.'_ Inuyasha thought with an inward smirk.

"I just wished to see you, and see how you were doing. That is all." She had inadvertently answered his unasked question and now he just wanted to leave, it was getting kind of unsettling being there with her. This wasn't how it used to be. He wandered how things could have changed so much? Had he been the one to change? Or was it her? He knows he does not love her, but they could have been friends, or at the very least acquaintances, they did not have to be enemies. They had had somewhat of a relationship very long ago, and that is something one does not forget so easily. But now, it just wasn't the same, and he had a feeling that it never would be like it had been. That thought saddened him a little; that they couldn't be friends anymore, she was his first friend after all. But that was his past, and now he should look toward the future, and with that resolve he knew he should not stay any longer, for his future was waiting back at the village where he left her.

"Are you listening to me Inuyasha?" Kikyo inquired this with a slight edge, not liking to be ignored.

"Of course." It wasn't a _complete _lie, he _was _listening to her, he just didn't care to respond to whatever she said. Yeah that's it! She still looked a bit skeptical; she had the right to be actually.

"As I was saying before, I have been watching you Inuyasha, you and my reincarnation. I am not pleased." Kikyo was scowling now; she had a mean glare in her dead eyes. It was kind of amazing to see her hold that much emotion.

Sure she had been angry before, but this was just outrageous. Kikyo didn't like the feelings she was having right now. She couldn't believe it. Inuyasha is getting too close to her copy, and that is just unheard of. Of course Kikyo really didn't love Inuyasha, she was basically just using him so she could be a normal woman. She liked the thought of him, but never loved him. He could have brought her freedom, a life she always dreamed of; a normal girl with a house and little children running all around. He could have given her that, and for that she was grateful to him. However, she could never have loved him, first reason being she just did not care for him in that way, secondly he was beneath her after all. She being a priestess, him being a hanyou, it would never have worked. As it was now however, her once nice dreams had turned clouded, and now all she cared for was revenge. At the moment she felt fury, because it seemed as though now that that would be taken away from her as well. That thought did not sit very well with her at all. It wasn't that she cared if the stupid girl liked Inuyasha, no she would be dealt with eventually but, it was the basic principle of the situation. Inuyasha was hers and that was that. She had him first and no one was going to take him from her.

She continued on to say, "I have seen you two getting closer, and I would like to remind you of your promise to me, you will go to hell with me Inuyasha. That is not optional."

Inuyasha just stood there dumbstruck. He hadn't realized how bad their relationship had gotten; how out of control it now was. It was not out of control like Naraku, it was just out of control in a different way, like it was out of _his _control to set things right again. He did not like not having control of a situation, it made him feel powerless. Not to mention this was so sudden, he wasn't expecting that to be the reason of why she wanted to see him. He knew this was going to come up at one point or another, but he was hoping that it would be mentioned after Naraku had been killed, not _before. _He hadn't had time to prepare, what was he going to say? He wasn't ready for this! He started to panic, and by the look on her face, it would seem that she knew she had stunned him for a while. He saw her turn from him, shaking her head slightly. He was simply unable to speak, and by the time he had found his voice again, she was already gone, he vaguely remembered her saying something about "until next time" but until he got out of his stupor, it wouldn't quite click yet in his mind.

'_that was completely different from all of our other visits. That was so sudden.' _Then his ego flared up, not to mention it was a little bruised being bossed around like that, he wasn't used to anyone doing that except for Kagome. But when she did it, he would always yell back, henceforth one of their fights. But this wasn't Kagome, and this wasn't a comfortable feeling he was feeling. '_Who the h does she think she is bossing **me** around like that!'_

Needless to say Inuyasha was not in a very good mood, and about everyone back at the village was going to know soon enough. When he thought about it more and more, he seemed to just get madder and madder. How dare she do that like she owned him, their relationship was nothing of the sort. The only one who could ever own him would be Kagome, and that was even if they ever became mates. He would own her and she would own him, no one else. And apparently Kikyo just didn't get that their relationship had changed between them, either that or she just didn't want to get it. Is she really that dense to not know that he doesn't love her? Surely not because he shows it everyday that he is with Kagome and everyday that he goes and sees Kikyo he becomes more and more detached from her. She always hurts Kagome, she even tried to kill her! Kagome was just too good to admit it, another reason why he loved her by the way. She never did tell him what had happened that day, but he knew, oh yes, he knew. He knew from the very beginning that Kikyo had tried to kill her. But at the time it hadn't mattered because at that point he was still undecided about the whole situation. He had known he loved Kagome, but he hadn't really meditated on his "feelings" for Kikyo and so he didn't know what they were. He had been selfish at the time, he said he would protect Kagome, but how could he do that when she needed to be protected from Kikyo, someone he had also given that promise too? He knew how Kagome felt about it to. She had been frightened, and he hadn't protected her from that fear, and for that he still feels ashamed. He has made the conclusion that from now on he will protect Kagome from everything and _everyone _no matter who they are. He had known when he got there that Kikyo had tried something, yet hadn't known what it was at the time. He asked Kagome what had happened. And yet, she hadn't said anything about it. If she wasn't, then he certainly wasn't, he knew and that was all that mattered. Kikyo had tried to kill her and Kagome had still been the better person, and most likely always will be. She even saved Kikyo one time! Yes, indeed he knew about that as well. How could someone intentionally save the person who tried to kill them? It was just simply amazing, but what could he say…Kagome was amazing.

The demon had finally been defeated. Kagome had landed the last blow, it had had a jewel shard as well and that is reason for it to be able to regenerate its body parts that had been severed off. Everyone was just completely worn out; they forgot how hard it was to fight when Inuyasha wasn't with them. Sango and Miroku were having contradicting feelings at the same time. Both of them were so mad at Inuyasha for not being there with them, he should have been there! But then again, they now felt very grateful towards him for all of the times he has been there, they needed to remember to thank him. Or they could just not bite his head off for not being there and that itself would cancel out them having to say thank you. Yea that would work. Sango and Miroku came out with some damage done, but nothing that wouldn't heal over time. A few cuts, a few bruises here and there, nothing they couldn't handle.

Kagome however, was very tired. She had put a lot of spiritual energy into that arrow that had gotten them the victory. She had cuts, not everywhere, but they were plentiful. This is due to the fact that she was the main target of course, she was the one with the jewel shards after all. She did however have a very sore back and bruised eye. This was due to the fact that she had tried shooting the demon once already and it had missed…however it did succeed in ticking the demon off and the demon flung his arm towards her. She was not expecting this so she was hit clean in the face and knocked back into a tree, but she had moved at the last second, so therefore the hit wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. The tree had shook with enough force that some of the leaves had come off. She had turned her head just in time so where only a part of her face was hit. It still, however, hurt like nobodies business. Her mind has been a little fuzzy for a minute or two right after the hit; she had been knocked into a tree. So it would be needless to say that even after the demon had been finished off, that she was still a little dizzy. For the rest of the members the cuts were small, and the group actually came out pretty lucky, it wasn't a big demon, just a minor one. Although, have you every wondered why the smallest cuts in the world are the ones that hurt the most?

"Kagome…are you gonna be okay?" Shippo's worried question broke through her reverie. She smiled slightly at him; he was just so darn cute! In a way she had become like a mother to him. Always babying him when he was hurt or scared, bringing him treats and just treating him as a mother would. She loved him like her own, and right now she should be giving him the attention that he deserved considering he was probably still scared because of the demon. But she just couldn't summon up the strength in order to do so. So, she settled for just patting his head affectionately. He pouted a little at first, not liking to be ignored.

"It's that baka Inuyasha isn't it? When he gets back I'm gonna-" Miroku quickly coverd Shippo's mouth making sure that Shippo could not make the situation any worse. Shippo was grunting his displeasure but he could be talked to later.

"Kagome, maybe you should put this wet rag on your face. It will make it feel better." Sango brought Kagome the cold rag that she had brought back from the river. Kagome nodded her thanks and placed the rag upon her swollen eye.

While Miroku and Sango were contemplating the group's next move, Kagome was having completely different thoughts. _'I am so mad at him! He should have been here. I forgive him for everything, everything, even when I shouldn't. I know he cares about her, but I care about him to ya' know! Whenever she comes around he drops everything he is doing! But I still come running back to him like a lost puppy.' _Kagome kind of chuckled on the inside of how ironic her analogy really was, but that quickly faded when the thoughts of what happened this time came back to her. _'It's not like I ask that much of him. Seriously all of the other times I could forgive him, but this time, he left us in danger and that in itself is unforgivable. However, it's not like he would care if anything did happen to me. That is except for the fact that it would be harder to get the jewel shards, because as you everyone knows I am just his jewel detector.'_ Kagome just realized something, she was tired. Not like in the first sentence of the other paragraph tired () but _tired_. She was tired of always being the second to think about, tired of the way he treated her, calling her names like wench. She was tired of always being compared to Kikyo, always left on a string and hung out to dry whenever _she _showed up. She was tired of forgiving him, tired of trying to patch things up with him, tired of saying sorry when it wasn't even her fault! She was just tired of everything. Her face was aching so horribly now and it hurt to even move the rag, and her back was just a different story. She was very sore and then she realized it. Inuyasha had not protected her because he was with Kikyo…because Kikyo was more important. As of right now she honestly had no idea what she was going to do. Right now, all of these thoughts instead of doing their usual job of making her mad, they mad her extremely sad. This time was different. This time she wasn't going to be mad at him, she wasn't going to yell at him, she wasn't going to do _anything_, she was too numb. She felt nothing, thought of nothing except her own self loathing and the pain in her face and back.

Across the hut Miroku and Sango were watching her with remorse. They all knew how she felt, that is except for Inuyasha…he was as dense as they come. But they knew that she loved him, how much she cared about him, and how every time he went to Kikyo it broke her heart. Shippo was wondering how to annoy Inuyasha when he got back, maybe his yelling mushrooms would do the trick, an amused smirk adorned his face. Miroku thought that maybe it was time he had a talk with Inuyasha about how he treated her, while Sango on the other hand was having more…_evil_ thoughts. _'He does not deserve to be loved by her. That inconsiderate fool! How can he just go running off like that when he knows that Kagome does not like it? He should be grateful that she hasn't sat him into the center of the earth by now. I know if it were me I would just push him off of a cliff and be done with it!_' Sango noticed that Miroku was staring at her and that brought her out of her thoughts.

"What!" She had accidentally snapped, she hadn't meant for it to come out that mean! She then noticed that she must have had a really evil look on her face just now because Miroku had moved away a good three feet, along with Shippo.

"Whoa…she's scary when she's mad…" Shippo whispered this so hopefully only Miroku would hear. But Sango heard it as well and then blushed a pretty shade of pink.

"Sorry. I hadn't realized I had gotten so angry." She looked down blushing profusely.

Meanwhile, Kagome had been zoned out for quite a while. Not having heard any of the conversation that just went on with the others, and honestly not caring either. Her mind was on one thing, and one thing only. Just how _stupid _she really was. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been to believe that maybe he actually cared for her, not even a little. All the times he had saved her, had helped her bandage up when she was injured; all of the little looks he would give her when he thought she wasn't looking. She thought that all of that had meant something, but apparently it was just wishful thinking. The thoughts that plagued her mind just a few seconds ago had a totally different meaning now, she was _pathetic_ and that hurt. But what hurt the most was the fact that _'I will never be good enough.' _

The minute she thought that something inside of her broke, just snapped, it wasn't painful or anything like that, but something just _broke_. It was like the weight on her shoulder's had finally brought her down. The break wasn't painful, it was like a stick snapping under your foot when you step on it. The strong, powerful, willful, caring, loving girl had just been pummeled. Her thoughts were confused, all mixed up, her normal, glowing chocolate eyes had lost their glow. Her happy face had just turned to a sorrowful one. The one who never backs down, the one who fights for what she believes in, the one who is never afraid to say what she thinks! Kagome Higurashi…had been broken.

There you go! I don't know if it's a cliffhanger, or not really, or whatever you call it, but I need at least 3 reviews to continue, so make me happy! Thanks again guys! And happy reading!


	2. Speculation

Alright, so here is the deal, i am really feeling down in the dumps right now, seriously, i got 50 some odd hits and yet i only recieved 2 reviews, only 2!! now, i really don't understand how that many people can read the story and not give me a review, honestly it's not really that hard! i am just get frustrated a guess, so i'm sorry i'm taking it out on you. I'm getting mad because i thought that i would have at least gotten more than 2 reviews, i was only asking for 3! That wasn't that hard, all i am getting out of the situation is that i suck so entirely bad! I mean, am i really that bad? No offense or anything but i have seen a few stories that aren't all that great and they got more reviews than i did! I guess i am posting this chapter because i hope that maybe if you read more of the story then it will become more entertaining i guess, but if it doesn't, then i guess i will quite posting because this is seriously so sad. So please just leave me 3 reviews, just to help boost up my confidence, if you don't then i will take the hint, and maybe post one more chapter, just to hope, but if that doesn't go well, then i'll just stop, fellow authors know how depressing it is when you get absolutly no reviews, i mean thanks to the two people who did! But, geeze, i am not really feeling to great right about now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Chapter 2 Speculation

Inuyasha had been walking back to camp, he was still seething at the fact that someone had actually tried to tell him, _him_ of all people what to do! The nerve! He was growling low in his throat while his mind was traveling from one place to another.

'_I can't believe her, she has some nerve stupid wench, tryin' to tell me what to do. Feh! She didn't even stay long enough for me to deny her and tell her that I chose Kagome.'_ Inuyasha immediately calmed down. Just the thought of the young miko brought butterflies to his stomach. He loves being around her, he would all the time if he could. Late at night, every night, he would wait till they were all asleep and then jump down from his tree, or where ever he was, and just watch her sleep. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps. She is so perfect in every aspect. It is so easy to just drown in her scent too, she is the most radiant creature he has ever seen. He hates it that he is so rude to her, in fact he can't stand it at all! But he can't let her know that he thinks of her that way. At least not until Naraku is gone; if his enemies ever found out that he had feelings for Kagome that would be the end of it. They would try and use her as bait or something of the sort, she would be in danger constantly. Not saying that she isn't already now, for she carries the jewel shards, but she would be in even more danger. And just could stand if she got hurt because of him. He instantly turned protective. _'I won't let anyone ever hurt her, I will die first!' _

When he arrived back at the village they were staying in he knew something was wrong the moment he stepped there. There was the smell of demon and a few huts had been burnt down. He sniffed the air and recognized that he smelled the faint scent of Kagome's and the others' blood. He immediately became very worried as his stomach started rolling with anxiety, what had happened? He picked up his pace and started running to where their group was staying. When he saw Kagome waiting outside for him he felt two feelings at once. The most important thing he felt was relief. Relief to know that she was okay, relief at knowing that she wasn't hurt; however, he also knew that he was in for it because he hadn't been there to protect them, and it was getting pretty late. It was the same old thing every time, demon or no demon. She would yell, get mad and go home while he was eating dirt. In fact he braced himself for the onslaught the second she caught site of him. However just in case he sniffed her scent and realized that the reason he smelled blood was only from minor cuts and bruises. He had been worried, but he would die before anyone knew that. Although, he inwardly smiled because another thought came into his head, no matter how many times he left she would always be up waiting for him. And then he got an extra benefit because she would always be mad, and she was cute when she is mad. Inuyasha smirked, but it immediately vanished when she started walking up to him. Something was different about her. She was walking slower…and it looked like there was a looming shadow over her left cheek and above her left eye. That was odd, there aren't any trees so how come it looks like…it clicked in his mind. _'oh no…'_

"Kagome! What happened?" His relief he had only felt a few minutes ago vanished just like that. He rushed over to her and turned her face with his hand so that he could see her eye better. She wasn't looking at him, most likely waiting for him to be done with his examination. He was mentally kicking himself. _'How could I have been so stupid to leave her here unprotected!? We knew there was a demon with a jewel shard and I still ran off to Kikyo anyway!'_ He felt really guilty. In fact, guilty was an understatement. He was hating himself for it. Her beautiful face had been beat up.

"You're not hurt anywhere else are you?" He asked this with a hint of desperation, most likely hoping that she wasn't so he wouldn't feel even guiltier, however that would be almost impossible considering that he couldn't possibly feel anymore guiltier then he already did.

"You're not answering me wench!" He looked over her arms, her legs, any place that wasn't covered in clothing. He had to hold himself back from actually removing her clothing to see if she was injured any place else. He knew he would defiantly get sat if he did _that._

"Good to see you are finally back."

Inuyasha almost fell over! Noticing first that she hadn't answered his question, which he realized that he was probably better off not knowing, and he would just find out later anyway because he would eventually become curious enough to check for himself. And the second thing he noticed was that just didn't sound like Kagome at all! She would usually yell, "Where have you been?!" or "Do you have any idea what time it is?!" or in this case something to the extent of "A demon was here and you weren't!" Sometimes it was actually pretty scary. But this was just so wrong on so many different levels. She was completely avoiding eye contact with him, something that Kagome _never _does and she just did sound like herself either. That wasn't Kagome's normal cheery voice, that wasn't her fiery temper, that wasn't her normal worried look…it was just all wrong! Inuyasha was getting worried because the worst thing about all of this, was that he had never seen her look so much like Kikyo in his life.

"Yeah…Were you hurt anywhere else? Is everyone else okay? Did you kill the demon? Did it have a shard?" Inuyasha was just listing off questions one by one. Trying to get some sort of "Kagomeish" response from her. When she didn't answer right away, his worry nearly doubled ten fold. _'Have I gone too far this time? Is it because there was a demon? Is she finally tired of me going off to Kikyo? What have I done?_

'_For someone who doesn't care about us, he sure seems to take an interest.' _Kagome thought dryly. _'Why would he care if anything happened to me? He shouldn't. Oh, that's right, how could I have forgotten that if I get hurt, are shard hunting slows down. Silly me.' _She was feeling emotionally jumbled up inside, not exactly knowing what all of the feelings were. There were tons of emotions roaring inside of her that she just wanted to get out, anger taking the lead. But she refused to show anything in front of him. He doesn't deserve it, so she stayed calm and decided that if he wanted her to be like Kikyo, then she would be.

"No one else is hurt. Everyone is okay, none of the villagers were harmed except for their houses. Yes I killed the demon and yes it had a shard." She lifted the bottle from where it hung around her neck and brought it close to his face for emphasis. She let the bottle drop back down to her chest and before he could ask anything else, she walked stiffly (because her back was hurting) back into the hut without another word. She never answered the first question Inuyasha asked her either, and he noticed.

Inuyasha just stood there for about another twenty minutes…he was so confused! What in the world was going on?! He wanted to charge in there and demand an answer, but he knew that it probably wouldn't be for the best right now. Apparently something was wrong with Kagome and no matter how much he wanted to find out, he decided that she should probably be left alone. She would be better by morning anyways and he would just ask her then. But, what if she wasn't? What if she stayed like this? _'No way.'_ But he just had to ask… What was going on these days! Kikyo is becoming a stalker and is obsessed, and then it's like Kagome is actually trying to act more like Kikyo!

His mind immediately froze, his mind just stopped. _'No, no, no, no. she can't be trying to act like Kikyo is she. The wench isn't that stupid, is she? No way. But the way she looked, she had looked like Kikyo...' _She had no emotion, no sparkle in her eyes, she wasjust…there_. 'This is too weird; I'll worry about it later. It's too late tonight and it's been a stressful day.' _Inuyasha ran his clawed hand over his face and sighed before he went into the hut to try and at least get some sleep tonight. The thoughts however still plagued his poor mind and he knew that it probably wasn't going to get to sleep as easily as he would have hoped. His thoughts went back to the fact that a demon was here and something even worse could have happened to Kagome then what already did. Her poor, adorable face. He noticed as she walking back into the hut that she was walking a bit stiffly, _'her back must have been hurt to' _He growled at himself. No wonder Kagome is mad at me, I would be too! But then his mind slowed to a hault, yet again. Even though, she had every right to be, Kagome wasn't acting mad, which confused him even more. How could she not be mad? How could she not hate him for leaving her unprotected? He had promised to protect her and he completely left her unguarded! How could she not be mad!? He had to calm down. He took a deep breath, something that Kagome showed him how to do lately when he got mad, and then he let it out. There were so many questions! And most if not all of them would probably never get answered. He would just have to figure out for himself later on what the cause for her sudden mood swings were and if it was because of the demon or not. He tried not to be worried; he tried to reassure himself that she should be over it in the morning, because that was just how Kagome was. Until then however, he didn't feel like he would be getting much sleep.

In the morning Kagome had awoken to the sound of an angry dog demon.

"Oi! Wench get up! We don't have all day, it's not free time here, we have jewel shards to get! So get off your lazy a and get a move on! And make me some Ramen too, if you weak humans insist on eating in the morning then at least make me something that I like!" Inuyasha really hadn't wanted to be that rude to her, but he wanted to see if she was her old self. Just thinking about how she was last night drew shivers up his spine.

Plus the fact that he himself had gotten almost minimal to no sleep, he should make the others suffer as well.

"Baka Yasha! Don't talk to Kagome like that!" Shippo yelled his protest at the half demon, however Inuyasha didn't even spare him a look, his focus being entirely on Kagome.

"Inuyasha! Don't be so rude to Kagome! She was up all night waiting for you to get back and that is all you have to say to her! You should be ashamed!" Sango had been listening since Inuyasha's little tirade and she had finally had enough of it. She didn't care who he was he was not going to talk to her best friend/sister like that. She could tell Kagome was hurting, it was a sisterly feeling, kind of like ESP, she just knew when something was wrong with her. As did Kagome to Sango, the two would always share whatever feeling they were having, they would always talk when they just needed a break from the guys or whatever matters that needed attending to, but it was mostly the guys…yeah the guys. Anyway, from the minute she woke up and saw Kagome's face while she slept she knew something had gone on last night. She knew because whenever Kagome slept and not in a good mood, she would always toss and turn. Sure her face looked peaceful, for it always looked peaceful when she slept. But her body would jerk around and she just didn't seem to get comfortable. I guess this is why they have the saying don't go to sleep angry, because if you do you won't get any sleep at all!

"Shut up Sango this is none of your business! Go find the monk so we can leave!" He did apparently notice Sango however. Sango got up in a huff, grabbed Shippo, ignoring his protests and decided that she better go find the monk so she doesn't strangle the hanyou over there. She walked out of the camp all the while fuming and hoped that Kagome gave that guy a good beating!

"Get up Kagome, now! Before I yank off the covers!" _'Maybe this will get a reaction!'_ He was still too worried about not having been here to protect her in the first place, he wanted to see the old Kagome that he loved so much, not this one. He wanted her angry, anger he could deal with, not this emotional crap!

"Ok Inuyasha." After Kagome's curt reply she started to get up and grabbed her clothes and left to get changed. She had decided not to take her school uniform anymore because as she was getting taller, not a lot, but still a little taller she was showing a lot more leg than wanted. So instead she had brought some more comfortable clothes. Today she was wearing a white T-shirt, that wasn't baggy but wasn't too tight either, and a pair of grey bell-bottom sweatpants with two light blue stripes going down the left and right sides them. (one on each side, which makes two, haha there's my math lesson today) On her way to change she sighed and sat down on a log. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She just felt like she didn't care anymore, about _anything_. Usually when Inuyasha would yell at her in the morning or something like that she would sit him to kingdom come. But she just couldn't do it today. _'Why am I acting like this. I just feel so empty inside and this feeling won't go away. Usually I would be furious with Inuyasha…but I just don't care anymore. That's it…I could care less. I could care less about him yelling at me, swearing at me, calling me names…that just doesn't matter any more. I'm never going to be good enough and with me calling him names and sitting him he will just end up hating me more than he does already.'_ Kagome took on a look of determination, which is odd considering right now she doesn't feel any emotion. _'I'm not going to sit him or yell at him or do anything mean to him no matter what it takes. I don't want him to hate me anymore, maybe if I act nicer and maybe submissive then he will start to like me more.'_ After some much needed "me time" Kagome got up and changed swiftly knowing that if Inuyasha came to look for her he wouldn't be too happy.

Inuyasha now knew something was defiantly wrong, she would usually chew him out and they would start yelling at each other, especially after a rough comment like that. But he couldn't help it, he just loved arguing with her, it was so much fun. Not when he got sat, but she looked gorgeous when she got infuriated. Her hair would kind of spread out like a cat (lol) and her eyes would take this darker hue of brown to them. It was just a sight for sore eyes. And besides it was kind of like his way of flirting with her, so he just couldn't resist.

But right now, all Inuyasha could think about was what had happened to his Kagome. She was just so…_off_ it was strange. She was the happiest person he knew and it hurt him to think that maybe he was the cause of her sudden change in personality. _'But I didn't do anything!' "…except leave her unprotected!"_ His mind added the last part and he mentally cursed. He did leave her unprotected, but that couldn't be it, Miroku and Sango didn't say anything, and Kagome hadn't said anything. So that couldn't be it right? They hadn't acted like it bothered them. So if they didn't say anything, he wasn't going to bring it up either. He wasn't going to bring up something that would just get everyone yelling at him. He noticed that she was taking a while but before he could go off to see if anything had happened Kagome had already come back into camp and had started on the Ramen.

"Oi! Kagome hurry it up will ya!" He yelled, trying to get some sort of reaction. He couldn't take this. It was grating on his nerves. He absolutely despised the silence, it was deafening. She had to be sick or something because Inuyasha knew for a fact that Kagome was not one to be bossed around, and that is all he had done to her today, so she was bound to explode at any time. And he was getting antsy waiting for it to happen because then things would go back to normal. Inuyasha never was one who liked the thought of change.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha I'll go faster." Now that was it. The way her voice just sounded so hollow, the way she didn't look at him, no emotion in her eyes that stared blankly at the task at hand. He had had it, enough was enough, Inuyasha was on a mission. He was going to get his Kagome back from whatever trance she was in, even if it killed him. He would do whatever it took to get some sort of reaction out of him. He didn't care how many times she yelled or he got sat, all he cared about was getting _something_ or _some kind_ of reaction out of her…if it was the last thing he would do.

Please review guys, to the people who actually liked my story i guess it's not as good as you or I thought, thanks though, if i don't get reviews then i guess i will stop writing and quite making you suffer


	3. Assessment

Chapter 3 Assessment

It was now sunset and the group was not very happy, anyone could very easily tell by the tension in the air. Kagome was still not talking to Inuyasha, not the way she was supposed to anyway. She would always make short little comments, always agree with him and did whatever he told her to do. That was just so not Kagome. She would usually not be so…agreeing? No that's not the word, she would usually not be so…_easy_. Inuyasha wasn't sure if this was the right word yet or not, but it basically described what Kagome was acting like right now; always agreeing with whatever his choices were, never doubting his judgment, not to mention poor Shippo was getting hit over the head so many time that even Inuyasha himself was getting worried. But through all of this Kagome remained submissive, which that in itself was very scary. Kagome was_ never_ easy because she had to make everything difficult! She never agreed with him when he had an idea, of course his ideas always would always entail killing someone or something when they had a problem with it, but hey! That was the easiest way to get rid of all your problems, wasn't it? Not to mention he would basically tell her off whenever he got the chance and when this happened she became a little less pleasant. She was not one to back down from a good argument! And Shippo was just like her own child and she would _always _take his side no matter what! But, even though this may sound strange, those were the qualities Inuyasha loved most about her, she was always her own person, very unique, and very protective. And now, she was just another person who couldn't, or wouldn't, think for themselves. Always do what others tell them to do. She wouldn't ignore him, but she wasn't talking to him either. And this in turn bothered Inuyasha, who in turn bothered every body else because he seems to have a major anger management problem…

"Oi! Get a move on you slow pokes, do you want to find a camping spot or not!?" Inuyasha was on his last nerve, Kikyo just needed to go to hell, literally. Kagome wouldn't act her self and believed me, he had tried to so many different things to get sat that even he was so mad at himself, he couldn't believe how much of a jerk he was being. But he needed that reaction, and he would get it! Sango and Miroku was all acting lovey dovey to each other and it was just making him sick. A few weeks ago Miroku had went out and taken Sango somewhere so they could be alone, and when they had come back they were acting like that. He had also noticed that whenever Miroku became perverted to Sango and touch the you know where with the you know what that she would gently play slap him or give him a pitiful glare that was too _nice_ to even be called a glare. And if Inuyasha didn't know any better he would say that she was starting to like it. _'Okay! That is just disgusting!" _

"Okay Inuyasha we are going as fast as our feet may take us and even if you are not tired, being a hanyou in all, we are only mere humans and we are exhausted." Miroku had to fight to keep his voice neutral; the hanyou leading the way sure was snippy today. And if Miroku didn't know it, the only one who could make the hanyou this snippy was the little miko walking a little bit behind. Miroku immediately lost all of his thoughts. He hadn't even thought of it until now, Kagome has been withdrawn all day.

"Yeah you big meanie! We're tired!" Shippo of course had to add his two cents, never one to keep silent. Miroku ignored Shippo's comment, along with Inuyasha which was surprising for usually the dog demon roused up to the kitsune's remarks which eventually led to a beating, Miroku was silently hoping the kit would just keep his mouth shut, hadn't he been hit enough today? However, Miroku was still focused on Kagome. She has barely talked to anybody, and she was still lagging a little bit behind. Unfortunately a certain hanyou recognized this as well.

"Wench! Pick up the pace will ya? You are really grating on my nerves moving as slow as a snail demon!" Inuyasha had not given up his mission to try and get the girl pissed off. He never thought he would admit this, but he wanted to get sat, and so badly too. He wished her anything right now, happy, mad, sad, pissed anything would be better than what she was right now…like Kikyo. Now keep in mind that she wasn't all the way like Kikyo just some parts had been mimicked. Kikyo would always show no signs of emotion, she would never laugh, she would never get excited, and most of all she would never get furious. She was as cool and composed as a clay pot, which if you look at it she basically was (a/n: haha). And Kagome seemed to be playing the role quite well and that was what was getting Inuyasha pissed off the most. He growled low in his throat before turning abruptly.

"Alright we will camp here for the night, Miroku go get the fire would. Sango and I can scan the area. Shippo…just stay here. And Kagome you make me Ramen!?! I want _all_ of it made, not just a little, _all of it!_ Understand?"

"Ok Inuyasha." Kagome once again replied like she had been doing all day. He growled low in his throat again…he couldn't believe his future mate was still not talking to him. _'How do you even know that she wants to be your mate? She is sure not acting like it.' _

'_Feh!_' And now he was talking to himself, this just went from bad to worse. Not because he was mad about talking to himself, although that felt a little weird. He was frustrated. It was true, he didn't know if she wanted to become his mate. And this whole ignoring him thing was not the signs he was looking for when trying to decide if she wanted that. He was angry, angry ha! He was furious! But deep down, is where the most of his emotions lay, he was extremely hurt. Kagome would never ignore him, never. And when she did she would always get over it and apologize. This time, though, she didn't seem to be getting over it. And she wasn't ignoring him completely just…somewhat…which made him think what could have changed her?

"Sango you take the North and West, I'll take the East and South." With that said Inuyasha was gone. He loved to run; it got his mind off things, certain girls from the future and what not. It made him feel free, like he could do anything, like there was nothing holding him back. As he leapt from branch to branch, making sure nothing was lurking about he was contemplating what his next move with Kagome should be. By the time he returned, he still didn't have a clue. He had scanned the whole area and by the time he had gotten back Sango was there, the fire was started and Kagome had just finished making him all of the ramen he had wanted. Which included seven packages total because that was all there was left. Now…this truly was going to be difficult on the half demon's part, the thing he loved from the future was staring right back at him, the thing that made his mouth water every time he caught the distinguished scent, most times the thing that kept him going from day to day…ramen.

"Here is your ramen Inuyasha." Kagome murmured while handing him one of the cups, the others sat near the fire so they wouldn't get cold. Inuyasha just glared at it, pretending that it was the most disgusting thing in the world. How hard this next task was going to be for him, but it was either the ramen or Kagome…of course he loved ramen, but he loved Kagome more.

"I don't want it anymore." He said curtly, he knew this was going to get a reaction out of Kagome for sure! Not to mention the rest of his pack. They were all thinking the same thing while giving him various looks of complete and udder shock. What was wrong with him? They never thought they would live to see the day when Inuyasha, the Inuyasha, would turn down ramen. What in the world was going on?! Kagome is withdrawn, and Inuyasha turning down RAMEN! What has this world come to?

"Your cooking sucks, and personally I don't think you made it the way that I like it. This kind is the shrimp kind, I don't like that kind! How stupid can you possibly be?" He was groaning inside, he really didn't want to be this mean, really he didn't. Plus, he was starving and the ramen was there right in front of him. He flinched. But he was so worried about her, yes worried about her! She wasn't the Kagome he loved, she was….something or someone different and that didn't settle with him what so ever. So he was willing to make some sacrifices.

He looked up at Kagome…she wasn't saying anything yet. That kind of worried him considering that she would be quite for like a second and then start yelling or bawling, or both. And she was never this quiet, never had he heard a silence so deafening…

"Kagome….I will have some of the Ramen, your cooking isn't bad, in fact I love the shrimp kind!" Shippo piped up from a top Kirara. He had been so concerned for his adoptive mother today, but warnings from Sango had kept him from going to her like he normally did. She had said that he should just wait until Kagome was back to her normal self and when things had cooled down, whatever that meant. He still didn't understand but if Kagome needed some time alone, he was going to give it to her. Anything to make her happy!

"Yes, I would like some as well Kagome! I am starving!" Sango had been in shocked silence just watching what was happening between her two friends…she was seriously stunned. For one Inuyasha never I repeat _never_ turned down ramen, it was like a sin. And secondly he never treated Kagome that harshly either. He treated her badly, yes, but it was so unlike him to be this particularly harsh, he did have strong feelings for the miko that much she knew, he protected her with his life. He was just too stubborn to actually tell her, which led to many numerous fights, but they all knew he cared about her deeply, well, except for Kagome. But Kagome was a little naïve as well. Neither one knew about the attraction they both had to one another. Hopefully that would change soon enough, but until then, there would always be days like this. But this particular day something was really eating away at Inuyasha, enough for him to turn down his ramen! Sango mentally promised herself to find out later. So finally upon hearing Shippo she decided that she would volunteer as well. Kagome didn't need this right now. "And after we are finished, would you like to accompany me to the hot spring Kagome? I found one while scouting. (a/n: convenient that they are always around eh?)

"I will have some of the delicious food as well Kagome, if I do say so myself your cooking is exquisite." As you all may have guessed, Miroku added his comment in as well, all the while adding a little bit of flirty charm to it. But in the back of his mind, the little wheels were turning. He could not let Inuyasha treat Kagome this way, it wasn't right, especially when she had already been feeling down. She didn't need Inuyasha in her hair right now. He would get to the bottom of this as soon as the girls went to the hot springs.

Speaking of which, Kagome still hadn't said anything. She was just kind of standing there with the Ramen cup still outstretched. Finally she sighed…and took the ramen away from Inuyasha…she had had to count to ten before she could even allow herself to speak. She just couldn't believe what an insensitive jerk he was being! He was being more

Insensitive than usual! She loves him yes, but when he got like this she just wanted to strangle the living daylights outta him! But she had promised herself that she wouldn't yell or lash out at him for it would only cause him to belittle her more.

"If you don't want to eat it Inuyasha then you don't have to, I would offer to make you something else but considering you don't like my cooking then I will let the offer down and let you find food on your own. It is probably better than mine anyway." With that she turned to Sango. "You know what Sango; I think that I would like to go by myself if you don't mind…"

Sango could tell her friend just wanted alone time and she completely felt for her. It was probably best anyway that she didn't go, she would probably just end up bugging her even more. Not to mention, this would also give her time to clobber Inuyasha for what he had said and what he had done all day…_ 'How could someone be so, so, so thoughtless!?!?'_

"Of course Kagome the springs is just over that way, Kirara can go with you and keep an eye out all right?" Hoping that if it was just Kirara going along with her that Kagome wouldn't mind; she did need some protection after all, not liking to admit it, even if it was only to herself, Kagome was a magnet for demons.

Kagome smiled slightly, Sango always knew when she needed some time by her self, and she would thank her later. Kagome left without saying a word.

When she reached the springs she just sat down and looked at her reflection. However what she saw was horrible. Her face was pale, dark circles under her eyes, and looked as if her hair hadn't seen a brush in days, which in all honesty it probably hadn't. _'I bet Kikyo had never looked this repulsive'. _She inwardly grimaced, how had they been able to stand her all day? She looked absolutely horrible! But no matter what she looked like or where she was, one thing would always remain the same: she was a substitute, a replacement for someone who was better than her, prettier than her, smarter than her…everything she wasn't. It also seemed that whenever she would look at her reflection, it didn't matter where, all she would see was Kikyo's face staring back at her; taunting her as if to say _'I was here first' _And it hurt her more than anything ever would. She brought her hands down and splashed the water, making it ripple. She was only second-rate compared the woman who had had everything first. As she looked down in the water again, she started to cry silently, knowing that she would never be as good as Kikyo, no matter how much she tried. She was confused because it seemed as though people got the two mixed up all of the time, which seemed impossible because of how inaccurately cloned she herself was. _'How could they mix us up when Kikyo is so much better?'_ She wanted to be Kagome, Ka-Go-Me! But as time progressed, it seemed that she was becoming more and more like that of something that she didn't want to ever become, her proof still staring back at her… a copy.

(a/n: Sorry for such a short chapter, I promise, as the story moves along, the chapters get longer as well!)


	4. Protection

Hi there! I got a few reviews and thank you guys so much! You all are awesome! Here is another chapter because the other one was so short and I kind of felt bad. So enjoy!

Oh and I forgot to add the disclaimer on the last chapter so I will just add it on this one with the one for this chapter? Okay? Cool!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the other characters mentioned! (Times 2)

Chapter 4 Protection 

Inuyasha knew the minute that Kagome left that he was dead, almost as dead as Kikyo.

He felt stares, no let me rephrase that, _death glares_ on the back of his head. And then it began…

"You idiot!!! How in the world could you be so mean! She was only doing what you asked her to and then you let her down again and again and again, I can't believe…" Sango continued ranting as Miroku now started, feeling as though he should add a comment as well. This was not something that one could just be quiet over, the hanyou had indeed been quite rude after all.

"I am extremely disappointed in you Inuyasha, you of all people should know that Kagome hasn't been herself these past couple of days and you continued to just yell at her constantly all day, in my honest opinion I find that…" And then Shippo start his little yelling spree as well never being the one to be left out.

"Inuyasha No Baka! Kagome has done nothing but be nice to you and you always make her leave. Just because we like her around and you don't doesn't mean you can…" And then Kirara started growling at him.

This was getting out of control, did they know what kind of stress he has been under for the past couple of days! The whole Kikyo not leaving him alone, Kagome was now acting more like her, not being herself... Did they not know he already despised himself for everything he has done to the poor girl; Why did they have to continually rub it in his face when he already knew it? And for the love of Kami…didn't they know when to be quiet?! His head was hurting, his ears were aching, his poor mind had no idea what to think anymore and they just wouldn't shut up!

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!" The whole forest boomed with his outburst, I mean it was so bad that birds flew out of the trees. After the outburst, it had been quiet for a few seconds…on of those awkward silences where no one knows what to say…his voice was still echoing in the distance.

At the hot springs, Kagome saw the water ripple a little bit and then birds start to fly…_ 'hmmm…that's weird'_ Her eyes quickly glazed over however, and she was once again lost in thought

Back at camp, Inuyasha was breathing heavily his eyes held flames in them, now was not a good time to mess with him.

"NO!! You listen here buddy and you listen good!" Sango broke that uncomfortable silence. Besides, it had long since been recognized that Sango would always take the lead when Inuyasha needed a good "lecture". She grabbed a piece of his hair tugging him down. "I am not gonna just stand by and watch you chew out Kagome all the time. I'm sick of it and I sure know that she is. You may not think much of her, but we do! I am sick and tired of seeing my friend treated that way. She deserves so much better. She may only be a Shard detector to you but…" Sango was cut of by Inuyasha's very dark growling. His eyes flashed red for a second. If Sango would have blinked then she surely would have missed it _'How dare she…' _The demon slayer had no idea what he felt and it was not her place to say. He was the alpha male of this pack and he was not going to let some stupid pack-female talk down to him. His eyes flashed red again at that thought. But Sango didn't notice this, she may have been going a little too far but now that she was started, she was not going to stop.

"Since I was so rudely interrupted I will start again…you may only care about Kikyo but you are not the one who is sitting by Kagome the whole time you are gone fawning over that… that…clay pot! Kagome has been by your side through thick and thin Inuyasha and Kikyo has tried to do nothing but destroy it! Doesn't it even bother you a little that while Kagome suffers, you are with someone who is enjoying making her suffer, not to mention making you suffer as well!" Sango threw her hands up in the air. "I give up! You are just too thick headed to know a good thing when it is right in front of your nose. Have you even realized Inuyasha that Kagome has been acting strange ever since you came back from your last little visit with Kikyo or are you just to dense to realize that?!" Sango stomped away, probably to go throw her boomerang at something. _'Oh the nerve! What an insensitive, conniving, inconsiderate…'_

Inuyasha was just standing there trying to calm his raging blood within him. What was with everyone these days? Thinking they could just boss him around! Not to mention two wenches at that! They had the gull to actually tell _him, _command _him _to do something! He sighed; this was getting him no where. Anger would not help anything at this point. He remembered Kagome's words when he had "accidentally" thrown Shippo into a stream because he had let loose some of those damn squealing mushrooms. He still thought that it wasn't his fault to this day…

"_Inuyasha! Bullying doesn't solve everything you know! If you get angry at a situation and then react on that anger_ _it only makes the circumstances worse! Then you are even angrier than you started out to be. " She sighed and looked at him trying to see if he had actually understood. He was giving her a look that plainly asked if she had lost her mind. She just smiled at him, "You're a lost cause ya know?" _

He smiled inwardly remembering that occasion. Sure, anger wasn't the way to solve everything; that he already knew. It was just easier…and more fun. Especially when it had to do with a certain kit that could get on his last nerve. He sat down waiting for the next round to begin…In truth, he had remembered all of that, he wasn't as dense as everyone thought he was. In fact, they were the ones being dense. Hadn't he proven himself numerous times about how he felt about Kagome? Hadn't he shown just how much he cares for her, always saving her, protecting her, keeping her safe, things that the male would always do for their female mate? He knew that he didn't always voice how he felt, but he wasn't good with words; they should all have known that by now! He knew the good thing that was right in front of him, he knew Kagome was like a god-send to him, he just couldn't do anything direct about it yet. They still had things to do; they had to kill Naraku, get the whole Jewel, put certain people to rest, and with that still having to be completed he couldn't be going and making Kagome his mate! That would put her as a target, and he was not willing to risk her life in _any_ circumstances. Things were just too complicated right now, adding another thing to it would surely make him go insane. Now was just not the right time, and he was about to voice his opinion about where they all could _shove_ their own opinions until he heard Kagome scream. Inuyasha didn't even know when he had started running, but he wasn't about to stop. He thought Kirara was with her! What happened? He was becoming more nervous and anxious the closer he got. _'Kagome, please be alright.' _

When he finally got to his destination, which seemed to have taken forever in his opinion, she was there on the ground lying soaking wet her in clothes, (which need I remind you she was wearing a white shirt, which was almost see through as of now) looking up at this huge demon. Rage immediately took hold of him, and his protective demon instincts were starting to kick in. _'What is he doing with **my **mate?' _The demon was large, oddly shaped because its body was about 10 times bigger than its head, which was oddly deformed, making it have a very interesting shape to it. It was a sort of tan/brown color, not the prettiest color in the world. Not to mention it had no ears, making Inuyasha wonder if it would hear his cunning taunts…well, at least _he_ thought they were cunning, anyways.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled putting his hand on the hilt of his sword. However, when he noticed the proximity of Kagome to the Demon, he realized that this was a time to use his claws not Tetsusaiga. If he made just one wrong move he could hurt Kagome and that was absolutely not an option.

As for Kagome, she had just finished getting her clothes, thinking and dreading about how badly she did not want to go back to the camp. It was getting harder and harder everyday to not just break down. But no, she would be strong. _'Kikyo is always strong.' _Then all of a sudden Kirara had started growling and jumped off in an opposite direction. She had wondered what it was all about because Kirara usually never acted like that unless…then, interrupting her thoughts as well as proving the assumption she was about to have, this huge demon seemingly appeared out of nowhere, it had really startled her, so she did what any normal person would do, she screamed. After doing this she un-gracefully fell back into the hot spring, clothes and all. She was struggling around in the water, basically just flailing because the only thought was_ 'I'm gonna drown! I'm gonna drown! I'm gonna drown!' _ and if there was one thing that Kagome Higurashi hated more than being claustrophobic (fear of being in small, confined spaces) it was drowning under water. Not having the ability to breathe or to see very well. Your vision blurry and your eyes aching from having the water rush into them. Only seeing millions upon millions of bubbles and not being able to hear much; your lungs burning from lack of oxygen, not even having time to wonder if this is how you are going to die. Her arms were flailing and her legs were flying, she was splashing around like a fish out of water, except to the fact that she was actually _in _the water. She finally got to the surface which seemed like a hundred years to her, in reality it was only 2 seconds, and climbed out. Now she was staring strait up at his huge demon waiting for it strike, the only thought that was occurring in her mind at the time was _'I failed him' _she was pathetic, not even being able to protect herself. No wonder he could never love her. She was so undeniably _weak_.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" The demon was startled, but it was very quick to move out of the way, which came as a shock considering its large size, and it got away just in time, instead only getting, a large scrape along it's chest. The demon was indeed lucky since if he would have been even a tiny bit hesitant in his movements, then he surely would have been killed.

"Kagome! Are you okay?!" Worry evident in Inuyasha's voice, his eyes roaming over her to see if she was injured. All that he could see was that she had only suffered being drenched in water. His eye focused yet again on hers, holding guilt and concern. Kagome had to take a second look. _'Is he worried about me…?' _She had dared to hope, but then realization came crashing back down on her once again, she had hoped for far too long and look where it got her, '_no, he's only worried about his precious shard detector…' _Kagome looked away from him and nodded. This was however, not before Inuyasha had noticed the look she had given him. It kind of befuddled him because he didn't know what the problem was; she should be scared not sad! She was just almost killed by a demon and yet she wasn't screaming or crying like she normally does! What was the matter with her?! Abruptly he was flung away from Kagome, his thoughts wandering too far without consequences. The demon had left a long gash in his back, complete with poison. Inuyasha could already feel it coursing through his veins. Needless to say it hurt like a bitch, but that just got him all the angrier. The poison would not harm him in the way the demon would have liked, but now the wound would heal a lot slower and his back was literally a mess. He looked up to see the demon still glaring down at Kagome…She had stood up by now and was directly in front of Inuyasha blocking him from view and was watching the demon with brave eyes. So different from the eyes she had just held before. These were strong, aged eyes not that of a sad school girl? When had she matured so much?

Inuyasha looked on, a bit proud that she was not showing any fear and wasn't like he had first met her. When even a worm would scare her, _'or centipede'_ Inuyasha thought. However Inuyasha's feelings right now were a mix of proud and then anger. He was infuriated that she was just standing there letting the demon look at her, stupid girl needs to get out of the way! And then he noticed the way the demon was looking at her, with crazed eyes, thinking that it would be to his amusement to have fun with the little girl who stood up to him. _'How dare he look at my mate! She is mine!'_ His thoughts slowed to a crawl and his brain froze up. Wait a second, hold up! _'Am I that possessive of her? Do I really want her that badly?' _He looked up to see Kagome again, the fierceness in her gaze, that showed that the demon had been very wrong in harming Inuyasha. The way she stood ready to protect Inuyasha with her life and he felt a tug at his heart again. _'Aw…shit' _He knew he was toast now, she had completely brought him over to the "dark side". He couldn't be feeling this strongly about her now though! That just put her in even more danger than she had already been in. What if one of his enemies found out? What would he do then? He started to panic, he loved loving her this much, but just not right now! He still had things to do before he even thought about taking her as his mate! Hadn't he already been through this one time today? He quickly snapped out of his reverie however, when the demon launched an attack, he had not been prepared. But Kagome stood out in front of him, going to take the attack her self with her arms held out on each side of her and fierceness in her gaze that would scare anyone. She turned a bright pink; it encircling her and outlining her body's shape. A barrier appeared suddenly around her and Inuyasha. The demon's attack soon bounced off and was flying backwards, totally unprepared for this current change of events. The demon hadn't been expecting this. So he took the attack. In fact, Kagome was not expecting this either. She had no idea where that had come from, it just sort of happened. She had never succeeded in grasping this much of her power before; she still even had a little bit of trouble with her arrows. She had gotten _much _better since she had first fallen through the well, but this was just crazy, she hadn't gotten_ that_ muchbetter. But you know what they say, love makes you do crazy things (a/n: I have waited a long time to put that in there!)

When the smoke had finally cleared and the demon was gone…it was noted that he had been killed by his own attack. It turned out that he had had no shikon shard; Kagome would have sensed it already if he had. And Inuyasha…he just couldn't be described as among the living anymore. His mouth had gone dry, his eyes open wide and no coherent thoughts were running through his head, not that that was unusual however when it concerned Kagome. But instead of just his normal doings, he for once had nothing to say to that, had nothing to yell at her about. What had just happened? He had yelled her name at least 5 different times and she still wouldn't answer him as the attack had grown closer and closer. All he could do was watch and wait as his love was ready to take the attack for him. He had wanted her to get out of the way so she could save herself. He had grown furious with worry and rage at the same time! She was disobeying his commands and it could very well mean her life. But she didn't and, had yet again surprised him, instead forming a barrier around the two and in turn killing the demon. He was shocked beyond words; that is until he finally caught sight of the white, black, and gray heap that was Kagome lying before him not moving.

"Kagome! Kagome! Get up wench! Kagome!" Inuyasha looked over just in time to see Sango and Miroku coming with Kirara. Perfect timing of course…_ 'Yeah right!' _"What took you guys so long!? Kagome's hurt!"

"Oh my goodness!" Sango yelled panting and running over to Kagome, checking her for wounds, worry written all over her features. "We had found Kirara on our way here fighting with another demon, we had to take a stop and kill it, it was a poisonous demon and we didn't want Kirara to have to fight it alone; we knew Kagome was with you so we just suspected that she would be ok with you until we got here! What happened to her? She won't wake up!" Her fear was evident in her voice. She started to panic, Kagome was so still, she wasn't moving, but nothing seemed to be wrong with her except for her wet clothing a few scrapes. Not to mention her previous bruised eye from the other demon. But other than that, no signs as to what had happened.

"And what about you?! Are you okay Inuyasha?" Miroku finally seemed to adjust to the scene he had come upon. Kagome lying unconscious in front of a bloody Inuyasha, this was not the situation one would want to see their friends in. They had left Shippo back at camp because he would have just gotten in the way and they didn't want him getting hurt, it wasn't an easy task though, because he was very scared for Kagome.

Inuyasha finally broke his gaze away from Kagome and remembered Miroku's question about his injury but shrugged it off, it wasn't _that _bad, it looked worse than it was, the poison would go away in about a day or so and he would start healing properly then. Another side effect of the poison was however, he had only minimal use of all of his appendages, which is the reason he hadn't gotten up in order to protect her, it is kind of hard to do that when you basically can't move. He started crawling to the maiden in question. This was a _very_ hard task, his bones and muscles felt like mush. He hadn't thought that the poison would have affected him this much, but apparently he was wrong. Him being the almighty Inuyasha, it wouldn't hurt him that bad, would it? _'I have **got** to stop jumping to conclusions'. _As he was mentally berating himself, he picked up Kagome. He almost dropped her but caught himself.

"Here take her to Kaede! We need to go there, now!" Everyone could see he was worried about the little miko and they didn't waste anytime. Miroku and Sango would take Shippo and walk there while Kagome and Inuyasha would ride Kirara which would take them to Kaede's. Kagome was placed on Kirara and Inuyasha pitifully took a place behind her, and then they were off.


	5. Conjuring

Hey guys!!!! What's up…you must read this chapter or you will be completely lost!!!! Seriously!!!!! Okay! Just letting you guys know! Thanks for the reviews by the way! Gives me self-esteem and all that crap…you know that whole ordeal by now right? Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Chapter 5 Conjuring

"Naraku" A young pale girl whispered to Naraku. She was not a very lively one; nothing ever took her by surprise, for that would be a sign of weakness. Her only weapon was a clear, circular mirror, and she had absolutely no life in her eyes. She looked at her master, a young man with hair that went down past his waist, black as ink; it matched his eyes fairly well. He was an evil being, evil is actually and understatement, wicked being more like him. He was powerful to say the least, and his entertainment was making others suffer.

"Lady Kikyo is here to see you." With that the young girl, name Kanna, walked out of the room not waiting to be dismissed, by now she knew he wouldn't say anything to her anyways, however if she did she surely would have not known what to do.

"Naraku, I have come to form an alliance with you." Kikyo stood at the doorway with a very calm look on her face. She always looked calm, which was something that the dead learned how to do. She had thought long and hard about what she was about to say to him. It may bruise her pride, yes that is indeed true, however, revenge was something that would come of this, and revenge is what she cherished most. She had known where Naraku resided; once stumbling upon it when he had accidentally become weakened and had let the barrier fall. She had not taken action then, for it was not worth her time to do so. She had simply moved on without even making her presence known. She absolutely loathed Naraku, but she hated Inuyasha more, and for that reason, is why she has blessed him with her presence.

"And does this have anything to do with the hanyou I presume?" Naraku chuckled as something passed across Kikyo's usually emotionless face, something a kin to anger. Anger was a wonderful thing Naraku thought, _'but revenge is better'_ he smirked. He had known for a long time that this day was approaching; the day the weak, un-dead would ask for his help. And of course, Kikyo would never ask for help if it did not concern the half-breed. He knew this for a fact. Kikyo was a prideful woman; very self-righteous indeed. He hated his human heart that still resides within him for letting her be his weakness. But he would sooner kill himself than let any being alive, or dead, know that. His human heart, Onigumo, loved this woman, while his demon heart, hated her with a passion that could not be rivaled. Soon he would be rid of this human, all in due time, '_and that'_, he thought, _'is a time worth waiting for.' _

"Your presumptions are correct; however they are not what you may think. I will gladly get the pathetic copy of myself out of your way if you get the hanyou out of mine. Normally, I would have wanted to take care of Inuyasha myself; however, lately I have been focused more and more on the girl then on the hanyou. I find myself wanting more and more to just get rid of her, all the while making Inuyasha suffer. It works to benefit both of us. The girl and hanyou will both be gone and you will have all of the jewel fragments. All I ask is that you get rid of the hanyou so that I can focus entirely on the girl." She hated asking his help in this matter; it bruised her pride. But in order to get what one wanted, oh and she wanted this, a few things had to be given up in return.

With that Naraku smiled, "That Kikyo, I think can be arranged." This current idea seemed to appeal to him; luring him like a victim to a siren. The beckoning to beautiful to be past up; it did work out to benefit him all the way around after all. Both the half-breed and annoying wench would be gone, he would have the jewel shards and collect the last remaining, therefore the Shikon no Tama would be his to possess. As a result of this, he would turn full demon; finally getting rid of the human heart that currently rested in him, along with the infatuation of the miko, hence he would finally be able to kill her as well. He glanced at her when she spoke.

"You are aware this changes nothing between us, correct?" Kikyo had turned back before leaving just to ask that final question. There was an unspoken agreement between them; they hated each other, but the hate for the others was greater; more intense. After this was over, the past would be forgotten, and they would continue hating each other.

"My dear Kikyo, I would never dream of it." Naraku chuckled once more and with that Kikyo was gone, to set off on finding the girl Inuyasha traveled with. It was her turn to suffer like she had for all of those years; it would be her turn to pay with her life for the hanyou. _'You won't get away from me this time you filthy hanyou, I will make sure of that.' _

Naraku was still thinking back upon this; reasoning the pros and cons. The idea was evil and for that he enjoyed it immensely, however, he still did not like the thought of teaming up with Kikyo, and he didn't want to just get rid of Inuyasha either, that would be too easy, he wanted to have fun with this. Perhaps he would make the hanyou watch as he tortured the poor girl…no that's to nice. He wanted to turn them against one another, for he favored head games above everything else. This was undeniably going to be well worth waiting for. Kikyo didn't know it yet, but she had signed her death warrant when asking him for help. A stupid mistake that would prove to be…

However, little did he know that Kikyo was thinking the exact same thing. She knew that Naraku tended to take things into his own hands and that would just not settle well with her. But she would not be so easily defeated when it came to this matter. This was too personal, and she would not let her revenge, once again, get away from her. She was not going to back down.

Her thoughts drifted to the person of her current resentment; Kagome. She hated that girl with all of her being. She was too good, too _perfect. _It disgusted her. She thought back on it; on a life that she had had before she was dead. At one point in time maybe she and Kagome could have gotten along, they were basically the same person anyway. She had had some common interests. Such as starting a family and having a good life, something Kagome surely wanted. But her thoughts darkened, and just then she realized how different her and her reincarnate really were from one another. She herself was not as lively as Kagome, or as out going or as fun, and with that Kikyo hated her even more. She hated that she had worked so hard to be like that: so carefree, wanting to not have to worry about the jewel or protecting it and just being a normal girl, and yet Kagome did it without trying. She had gotten something she had worked so hard to attain. She hated that even with all of the training she had had, that Kagome was still more powerful, that it just came naturally for her. She would not admit that to anyone however. And she scowled at that thought. It wasn't fair how her life had turned out. She was finally going to be a free girl; if the hanyou had just turned human without thinking about it then she wouldn't have been in this situation. It was his fault. He ruined her life; took it from her. And now that he owed her his own life, in replacement to the one he caused ruin to, it seemed as though he would not be giving it up. He hadn't told her the words, but she knew it. Every time she beckoned him, he would come. She enjoyed that it caused her copy pain; that she was hurting the girl who most deserved it, for she had taken what was rightfully hers. But every time he came, the meetings got shorter and his mind always seemed to be somewhere else. Was she not good enough for him anymore? Surely not; if anything she was better than him, she always had been. But even after all of this, she could clearly see that his heart belonged to another and that he would not be repaying his debt, the one that he rightfully owed to her. And for that she would make him deeply suffer.

When had she gotten this evil? Even in life she had had some evil thoughts, but none as bad as this. She hadn't been this truly horrible while living had she? Right now her soul, or lack there of, was just made of anger and hatred; she now loved to make the ones she hated suffer, where as if she had been living, she would never have had thoughts such as those. She wasn't perfect when she was alive, but she had been better than she was currently. She missed the feeling of being free, being able to _feel, _being able to wonder how your life was going to turn out. She narrowed her eyes. As time had passed she had realized, now, how her life was going to be turning out, and it was not to her liking. She would not accept this. Why was she the one who had to take souls from dead maidens just to stay alive? Why was she the one who had to live life alone with no one to care for her? Why was she the one that _had to die?_ Stealing her resolve, she kept walking. If she has to suffer, so did everyone else, because that was just how it was going to be. She would not be alone in her sufferings, for everyone else surely deserved more than she. Her thoughts turned wicked once more at the thought of how she could make those who had betrayed her suffer, and those she didn't like, cause them pain; her copy taking the lead in her thoughts, along with the hanyou who she had once felt close to. She smirked as she kept walking through the forest, thinking of all of the things she could bestow upon them, the thoughts running freely through her mind.

Inuyasha was sitting outside of the hut, with his back laying up against the wall. His back ached but nothing he couldn't tolerate, that is if he didn't move at all. When they had gotten back he had immediately, well as immediately as he could anyway, went to find Kaede. She had been in her hut just sitting there putting some herbs together when she noticed him struggling to walk in, actually walking wouldn't be the word, it was more like _toddling_; dragging his feet and moving as if in slow motion, not to mention she noticed that his dark red kimono was now even a darker red than before, that surely was not good. Her smile immediately turned upside down.

"Child, what happened to Ye and Kagome?!" She asked as she started to get up as fast as she could; it was starting to get harder as the years past she noticed.

"We were attacked by a demon. Here help Kagome!" the hanyou all but threw her at Kaede, she smiled to herself, the hanyou was so worried about the young miko. It was quite endearing.

"While I am tending to Yer wounds tell me how this came about?" She started to gather all of the materials that she would need in order to help cleanse the wounds.

"We were back at camp and I heard Kagome scream…" He rushed it out because he didn't want her to think he was worried about Kagome, she didn't need to know that. He trusted Kaede yes, and held a respect for her too, but old habits died hard and he still couldn't let one of his weaknesses be revealed. _'Kagome is not a weakness' _he scolded himself.

She was his strength. If they were in battle, she would scream his name and he would feel a sudden rush of power. She would look at him with those eyes that made him feel like he could conquer the world. She gave him the strength to live on from day to day, for she was his reason for living.

She was his weakness also, but not in that sense. She gave him a look, it made him weak. She smiled at him, and that made him weak too. All she would have to do was say his name, and his legs would almost give out. She was his weakness, and for that, each and every day he was grateful to have her. He did not like being out in the open about his feelings, especially when enemies might be lurking about trying to find out his weakness; trying to find out about his Kagome.

By the time he was done explaining what had happened, Kaede's eyes held silent laughter. The boy obviously was worried about her no matter how much he denied it. Over the days they have spent with Kagome, Kaede could tell that something had grown between the two. And she couldn't help but notice that they both held strong feelings for each other. They showed each time they argued, each time they laughed, each time they breathed. _'Ah, to be young and in love' _

"Kagome is alright Inuyasha, she just seems to have used way too much of her power in a short amount of time. She must have been really worried about ye to do that, only strong emotions help can trigger a progressiveness in their powers, and Kagome was not very trained. I have done my best with the child, but not enough for her to have grown as powerful as this; not as in control of her abilities as this. I am guessing that the child held some very strong emotions while she was trying to save ye." Kaede then moved from Kagome to Inuyasha, silently tisking him as it seemed he was in a silent competition with himself seeing how bloody he could get in one battle. She told him to lie on his stomach so she could tend to the wounds on his back. He grumbled but complied to her request. He was still nervous for Kagome but when Kaede once again reassured him that Kagome was fine and only needed rest then he let his body relax. Kaede just smiled.

Inuyasha let out a breath of relief that he didn't even know he had been holding. He finally remembered the last part of what Kaede had said, _"She must have been really worried about ye to do that…I am guessing that the child held some very strong emotions while she was trying to save ye."_ The hanyou blushed suddenly, _'Was she really worried that much about me?' _While Inuyasha had been brooding over this, Kaede had finished up the last of his wounds. When Inuyasha noticed that she had finally finished he got up, very slowly and with _much_ effort, and hobbled over to where Kagome was lying. Kaede was still looking over Kagome and every time she made an observation Inuyasha would be hounding her and asking if something was wrong or if he could help. She finally got fed up with him and sentenced him to wait outside until Kagome woke up. He was not to happy, but she threatened him with not being able to see Kagome even if she _did _wake up, and that got him. He was silently cursing the whole way and Kaede just shook her head at his antics.

With his back still against the wall Inuyasha sighed again for the umpteenth time. _'She must have really been worried to increase in her abilities..'_ He then remembered the fierce look in her eyes; that had been the most emotion he had seen out of Kagome in a little while, come to think of it. But he quickly pushed that thought aside, maybe she wasn't mad at him anymore, but he didn't want to jinx it. So he thought yet again, back to the way her face looked. With so much anger there; that someone had actually dared to harm him. She had once again surprised him by her loyalty to him. He noticed that no matter how mad Kagome was at him, she never stayed away from him for too long. It was like it was a hard task for her. He remembered this one time that happened a little while ago. They had been checking on a rumor for a jewel shard, and it was early in the morning. Everyone else was up except for Kagome. She was always a late riser, but this particular morning she was even more impossible. No matter how many times Inuyasha tried to wake her up, she would always shrug him off and say something to the extent of 'five more minutes' and then go right back to sleep. He was getting ticked off and so decided to use another method.

Kagome….absolutely…hated… _snails_. They were slimy on the bottom, hard and rough on the top, they moved _so _incredibly slow, and she just thought they were the most disgusting things in all of Feudal Japan, including the demons, that is except for snail demons, which she just completely refused to fight. Anyways, Inuyasha decided that if she wasn't going to get up on her own accord that he was going to help her with that. He did say he was going to watch over her, right? So…he went over and found some of these wonderful creatures and told the group not to worry and that Kagome would be up in no time.

"Kagome…"

"Kagome…." Still no response.

"Kagome…there is a snail on your-" He didn't even get to finish before Kagome had jumped up and started screaming bloody murder. Snails were all over her! There were only five, but to her it was five too many. She screamed and yelled and was jumping all everywhere. To everyone else it was a funny site. Miroku and Sango had to hold hands over there mouth or look away because they were trying to keep from laughing. Shippo was laughing outright. And Inuyasha was on the floor, and if he was capable of crying, he would have been crying because he was laughing so hard. He was holding his sides and gasping for breath. Kagome jumped into a nearby pond, it was freezing cold by the way considering autumn had started not long ago. And then to make matters worse, she slipped on a rock, screamed and then landed face first into the stream. Now, just about everyone was laughing, some friends they were!

"We…shouldn't…be laughing…." Sango held her hand to her stomach and tried to compose herself…to no avail.

"Inuyasha…you…dog!" Miroku got a stitch in his side and was gasping for air.

Kagome surfaced slowly, it looked like a scene from a scary movie. (a/n: The Ring!) She was dripping wet, her soaked hair was covering her entire face, and she was surfacing slowly. That made everyone stop laughing, except for Inuyasha that is. He was still cackling from the aftereffects, hey, at least she was up now, right? Needless to say, when she found out that Inuyasha was, indeed, the culprit, she sat him so far into the ground that his back hurt for about a week, had headed back to her home right after that, and ignored him for about 3 days. Furthermore, Inuyasha had to do some major groveling, but he was Inuyasha! He couldn't just do that. So on the third day, when the whole ignoring thing had became too much for him, he just sucked up his pride and apologized. That was all it had taken, she immediately had went back to the way things were and the snail incident had been completely forgotten. But the moral of the story is that even though she had ignored him for those three days, she had never locked the window to her room, therefore she hadn't locked him out, which meant a great deal to him. Secondly, when she came back after a day of pouting, she had still ignored him, but she had brought him ramen nonetheless. And she had never said anything remotely hurtful to him, just the normal stuff.

Even when she was completely furious at him, she could never hate him, or hurt him. That brought a smile to Inuyasha's face, that and remembering how silly Kagome had looked while jumping around. He looked towards the hut that she was occupying, still unconscious because Kaede had not yet come and got him.

His smile slipped from his face…what was wrong with her? Kaede said that she had used too much energy, but she had done it before. Not to mention she had only fainted and then woke right back up about a few minutes later. This was different. She hadn't woken up and he was seriously getting worried. What if she never woke up? What if what happened caused her to lose her memory or something? What if she died while he wasn't in there to save her? He started to panic at that last thought. He would never let that happen to her! With that thought he got up and sprinted inside the hut. He told Kaede what she could do with her protests, the choice of words he used not nearly as nice, if Kagome had been awake she surely would have sat him. Kaede left deciding that it was better to go take a walk and stretch than to make another set of beads for the stubborn hanyou that let _her _to the incantation…as many times as she wanted to. Inuyasha sat down right beside Kagome's prone body. He didn't sleep outside that night, nor did he sleep at all, because nothing was going to harm Kagome while he was around. Nothing would get to her. He would die for her if he needed to.

He didn't know that pretty soon that might just be what he had to do.

There ya go! I try to update when I can, you know this is a hard year for me! Seriously! I am failing history! Gah! Anyways…I will update when I can! Sorry for the long wait! Thanks again for the reviews…can we make a deal? If I get 3 reviews I will post the new chapter sooner! How about that?! If I get those reviews I know you guys really want to read that and that makes me happy! So R & R please!


	6. Delusion

Hey guys! On my other site i got a few reviews so i just decided to update either way because i love writing!!! Which is good for you guys considering that means more updates! Woohoo! Anyways on with the reading cuz i really don't have anything to say. Hey, do you guys wanna give me some funny ideas for a fanfic i want to do, i don't really know what to do but i want an idea. So if you have any ideas just give me a holler! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha!

Chapter 6 Delusion

Kagome had been out for about 5 days, and everyone since then has been antsy. They wanted her awake! Sure her power had been drained, however, if she passed out it was never this long. Even with the worst of wounds, she would only be unconscious for about a day or two. What was going on? By now, everyone was freaking out a little, and Inuyasha…lets just say if he didn't quit acting like he was, Kagome wouldn't be the only group member to be unconscious. They couldn't believe how long she was sleeping, it was surreal to them in a way. Out of everyone to get hurt during battle, Kagome was usually the one who be the least hurt. During that point in time, they had forgotten just how fragile she was. Now that she was there, laying on the pallet looking oh so pale, it just washed over them all. They had finally realized that Kagome wasn't as strong as she let on; even the strong-willed can sometimes be broken. They just hoped that she would be broken for much longer, for her sake, and for Inuyasha's…

Kagome's Dream

_The demon had just thrown Inuyasha against the tree. Kagome couldn't believe it, of course she still was acting distant toward Inuyasha, she hadn't completely let go of her resolve, this time she didn't have the strength to do so, the reason being that she didn't want to get hurt anymore. It was hard work, so very hard, but it was the only way. But no matter how hard it was, it was the only way; she just had to say away from him, for now anyways. Furthermore, she wasn't going to make him hate her anymore than he already did by showing her true feelings. So… she hid behind something else, her emotionless face. However this had been harder than she thought, and it wasn't because she had to fight to keep her emotions in check, it was because….it was like she didn't have any emotions to hide. Whenever someone said something funny she didn't laugh, and it wasn't because she didn't want people to hear her laugh, it was because she didn't feel like laughing. It could be the most hilarious thing in the world and she just wouldn't find it funny. Inuyasha would say something horribly mean, but she wouldn't feel anger; in all truthfulness she really wouldn't feel anything even _remotely _like anger. Then when she would be all by herself, all alone where no one could see her be herself anymore, in her own little bubble you could say, she would let herself go, let herself be free. She would cry and cry and then cry some more, never letting up until she had no more tears to cry. It's funny how you just think that you are done crying, then think of the situation and find out that you aren't nearly as done as you first thought. It turns out that that is true, you never truly run out of tears, you just run out of the will to cry. You become so tired of fighting, so tired of caring, that you become devoid of all emotion, like Kagome. And inevitably she would always have to clean herself up afterward so a certain hanyou wouldn't smell the salt. But Kagome had quickly learned that it wasn't easy being emotionless, because after feeling absolutely nothing when she was around people, once she was alone it was hard to let yourself just give in to the freedom; it was hard to just let go, even if everything would just come _whooshing_ back! It was hard to try and not stop it for once. But when that happened, when she finally let it all go, she would laugh, cry, and do anything that her heart desired. Just be herself once more, if only for a short while. Sometimes it was two minutes, sometimes two hours; the moments would very upon occasion. She would be that way until she had to go back to her friends. When she would return she became as emotionless as Kikyo, after all she was just her copy. She know understood the dead miko a little bit better. Is this what she had to go through every day? But it couldn't nearly be as hard for her though, Kagome was the one who was actually trying to be emotionless, Kikyo did not have to try, she just was._

_She thought her friends were suspicious that she would always go off alone, but right now she didn't care what they thought, she cared about what _he_ thought. For right now, he was the only thing that mattered. He was the sole thing in her life that was staying the way he was. In her era, he brother was growing up, having met some girl. Her grandfather and mother were getting older. In this era Sango and Miroku were now more openly showing their feelings for one another, and Shippo was, well he was Shippo, but he was maturing a little bit, already having a few crushes. The only thing that had stayed the same in her life was Inuyasha. The same anger, the same annoyed look he gave her, the same tone of voice when he told her she couldn't go home, and yes, even the same old visits to Kikyo every once and a while. He was the statue that remained in her life._

_He was her life._

_An in that instant when Inuyasha collided with that tree and then failed to get up, her life had just been in more danger that she could ever remember. If he was gone then nothing else mattered; there was no one else who would be worth trying to impress, no one else who held her heart. She would not have anything to live for if he was gone. When she realized this something in her just snapped, and she became very angry. She couldn't stand the thought of whatever it was that had hurt him. This anger was not the kind of "_Inuyasha sit!!"_ anger; this was more like the pits of hell anger. She couldn't remember a time where she had been so furious, except that snail incident, but that was beside the point. Then she thought about it; if she had been in Inuyasha's shoes, and she had just been thrown up against the tree, that demon would have been dead already. Inuyasha always protected her, so why wasn't she doing the same? It was now her turn to protect him. Decision made, she walked up in front of Inuyasha, in a shield-like manner and looked at the demon like it was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. How dare it hurt _her_ Inuyasha?! She couldn't just stand by and let him get away with it that is absolutely absurd! As her thoughts grew darker she began to feel warmer and warmer, like the temperature was rising in beat with her anger. Her gaze became darker and her sole attention was on that demon. Soon enough she was surrounded by a bright pink light, it bordered her outline, sort of in a way like she would fire a purity arrow. The arrow would be surrounded by pink, a clear sign of withholding power. Before she knew what was happening to her, or what she was actually doing, she had erected a barrier around herself and Inuyasha. She didn't remember anything that had happened after that. The next thing she saw was the demon lying dead before her. With renewed strength Kagome got up and ran to Inuyasha, her emotions immediately leaving her once again, as though she had felt nothing at all. _

_She shook him awake while calling his name. She was starting to get worried. Inuyasha would never stay out for this long, and with renewed fervor she shook him harder basically screaming his name like a holy mantra. When he had finally opened his eyes, much to her relief, although it had seemed like forever, his gaze had been slightly dazed as if his head and mind were somewhat addled; looking but not really seeing. He then shifted his eyes towards her and they widened slightly; as though he was just seeing her for the first time, just realizing that she was there; the far off look he had before was gone, now replaced with eyes that bore into her very soul. Kagome was taken aback by how much love she saw in his eyes. She swore her heart had stopped in that brief moment. But she quickly looked away, not allowing herself to see something that wasn't there; not hoping for something that was too good to wish for. Her face felt suddenly felt very hot, not the kind of purifying energy hot, but hot like "blushing" hot. She then became even more embarrassed realizing how school girl-ish she probably looked right then. She put her hands to her face and quickly schooled her features, not wanting to give anything away of course._

"_Kagome…" Inuyasha whispered in the gentlest voice, this had Kagome caught of guard, she had never heard him speak like that before except that one time of where she her and the others had nearly died; her gaze snapped back to his. What happened next couldn't even be described as catching her off guard; instead what this did was make her heart stop, and then start erratically beating after she thought she had already died. It was as if she had been on auto-pilot, sitting by and watching as his lips pressed down against hers. The kiss was passionate, something she had never experienced before, even if it _had_ been her first kiss. She did have to say, this was an awesome first kiss! Her lips trembled, her emotions getting a hold of her. He didn't seem to notice as he just kept kissing her. Which by the way, lasted a very long time, that is of course until they needed to breathe, but if they hadn't, they wouldn't have broken apart; each one wishing they could have stayed like that forever. It seemed like they were the only people in the world right then, no Naraku, no dead ex-girlfriends, no annoying kits or monks, only them. Kagome felt like her life was complete, all of her emotions rushed back into her at once; It was as if her broken heart had been fixed in that instant, and all that was needed had been his simple touch; funny how the one who breaks your heart is the only one capable of fixing it._

"_Kikyo…" Kagome's heart stopped once more, however this time for a different reason; it was anything but good. Her eyes flew wide open when Inuyasha had murmured _her_ name. And just like that, she broke again her heart shattered into an uncountable amount pieces; she just couldn't believe it. Her ears had to be deceiving her right? Kikyo and Kagome are similar names right?! They both started with a "K" and they both had an "o". Quickly deceiving herself she started to relax just thinking she had been mistaken, while a small part of her still nagged that he had actually said it. However, when he murmured _her_ name once more, she had to face reality. And After all of that, her saving him and then the kiss and then…then…THIS! She couldn't help the tears that fell, her emotions as shattered as her heart. She pulled away from him and slapped him square across the face. Her eyes held no life to them anymore, all they held was sorrow and disbelief. Disbelief that he could be so stupid, so inconsiderate, so cruel; disbelief that any of this had happened, and that this was all just a horrible dream and she would wake up soon. However, she had been in this place before, this stage upon which a person firsts thinks bad things aren't real; denial was her only answer. And she just couldn't believe what had actually happened had in turn actually happened, but it was time to face the music, whether she wanted to or not. Her eyes became blurry once more, and her vision was obscured. She couldn't hide her tears, even if she wanted to, which right now she really couldn't sum up the strength to do so. She got up and did the only thing she could, she ran. Ran away from Inuyasha, ran away from the feudal era, ran away from her _heart_. All the while Inuyasha was yelling for her to come back; begging her to stay, while her heart was breaking with every word. _

"_Kikyo! Kikyo! Kikyo come back, wait!" he was still injured so he couldn't get up, all the while not understanding what he had done so wrong to make her run away, he was watching the woman of his dreams flee from him, yet he couldn't do anything to stop her. 'Kikyo'. _

_Her heart broke over and over again hearing him call for Kikyo. She couldn't take anymore she just couldn't. It was so incredibly stupid for her to believe in that split second that he might actually care for her. They say love makes you blind, but oh no, it makes you much worse than that. It makes you blind, deaf, stupid, insane and all of the above. You are lost in the sea of no return and by the time you find you're way out, the way out of a place that you are so unfamiliar with, it is already too late. You are too lost to be found now. And that is how Kagome felt, running in the darkness all alone because the love she felt for him had completely consumed her being. She had thought that maybe he had loved her in return, that maybe, just maybe she still had a chance; that her love would be unrequited for no longer. But no, it was because she was a copy, a duplicate, a replacement. She would never win his affections, his feelings, 'his love'. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes and she just continued to run, being stuck in a place between; Not moving forward, but not being able to go back either. She was eternally lost, in a place that she couldn't even describe; she just kept running, hoping for a way out, for a light to brighten up her darkness….a light that possibly would never come… _

_End of Kagome's Dream_

Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore, he had been sitting by Kagome's side for the whole five days, except for the few minutes he had been kicked out by Kaede, _'Stupid old hag',_ only getting up to eat and drink and take care of "personal business" but he wasn't gone for more than fifteen minute intervals at a time. He knew he was driving everyone crazy, but he just couldn't find it in his heart to really care. They would come and say that he could take a break, that they would take over, but no, he wouldn't budge. It may sound selfish, but again he didn't care, he wanted to be the first one she saw when she woke up. He wanted to be the first one to hug her and never let her go. He was so tired, and worried, of waiting for her to get up. He just wanted to shake her, to just _make_ her get up, but he knew he couldn't do that, no matter how much he wanted to. She would get up on her own time, and he would let her, even it meant making him suffer, if it would make her better, then he would do it. Another reason he wanted her to get up was because of the silence. He hated the silence, hated it so much that he would even be happy having the stupid kit for company. The silence made him to stupid things, like think about stupid things. About how his life had changed for the better because of Kagome, or of the way he would welcome her back to the world of consciousness. He would think about Kikyo and how things could have been different, and if they had been would he have really turned human. He thought of how he never really loved her and how she could never love him even if he had wanted her to. He hated the silence, it makes people think things that shouldn't be thought. And these past few days he had thought about _a lot_ of _stupid _things. And I mean some pretty interesting things. He has already of thought of what he might name his and Kagome's pups if they ever have any. _'Man, I really do need to get out.' _He was startled out of his reverie however when she bolted straight up out of a laying position.

"Gah!!!!!" He clutched at his heart and fell backwards. "Don't do tha-" He stopped when he quickly analyzed the situation.

She had screamed when she had awoken and was now panting heavily all the while holding her chest while tears spilled over her eyes. She was as pale as a ghost with sweat drenching her everywhere. _'It was a dream, a dream, a horrible, horrible dream' _she kept repeating, but for some reason that didn't make her feel at all any better.

"Kagome! Are you okay? I'm so happy you're awake!" Inuyasha grabbed and hugged her fiercely. He was concerned but the feeling that was at head right now was relief. His Kagome was finally awake! Kagome stiffened and then immediately pushed him away, not even glancing at him. Inuyasha felt a pang of hurt that Kagome would push him away when all he was trying to do was comfort her. She had **never** pushed _him_ away before, what had happened that had frightened her so? He didn't know why she had woken up abruptly like that, or why tears were streaming down her face, and that worried him to no end. Apparently she had had a bad dream or at least that is what he now concluded and he wanted to comfort her. All he wanted to do was gather her up and protect her from the world, but she wouldn't let him do that. His hands were itching to touch her, make sure that she was alive and well, however all he did was fist them and try not to look so hurt. Not to mention he couldn't blame her; he had been **the** biggest jerk in the world. He went to go apologize for how he had been acting, he didn't want her thinking that he was just treating her that way to just be doing it, he felt horrible about it enough as it was, but before he could say anything Sango and Miroku ran through the door having heard Inuyasha's outburst.

"Kagome!" Both of them yelled in Unison. Miroku stood by Inuyasha and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing how worried the dog demon had been, while Sango rushed over to Kagome. She wrapped her arms around her, feeling insanely relieved that she was awake. Kagome felt comforted slightly by this action, silently thanking Sango for her much needed support. She willed her tears to stop flowing and they soon ceased considering she was getting good at that "holding in your emotions" thing. Her eyes were still a little puffy but that would go away soon enough. She still had on her cool façade, but Sango had made her feel a little bit better. Inuyasha noticed that she had hugged her back. He felt another wave of hurt hit him head on. Miroku didn't seem to be helping him much, even though he was trying. Miroku knew this, by the way Inuyasha was looking at Kagome, but he kept his hand where it was, he would offer comfort even if it was not helping, he would at least try. Inuyasha still also felt very guilty, he had done nothing but constantly yell at Kagome and in turn she had went and saved his life risking her own.

"What the heck did you think you were doing out there you stupid bitch?! You could've gotten yourself killed! What were you thinking?!" Inuyasha was standing up, his hands balled into fists. If she didn't want his comfort then fine, she wouldn't receive it! Besides, he dealt with anger much better anyway. Sango and Miroku gave Inuyasha sympathetic glances. While Kagome had been out for the five days Inuyasha had been able to tell Sango and Miroku why he had been treating Kagome the way that he was. He didn't want them thinking any less of him; he hadn't given them an explanation and he guessed that they had deserved one. He wouldn't have liked to have been out in the dark either. After he had told them everything, needless to say, they had still been a little bit peeved at him for doing his plan so harshly but they were a lot less angry than they were beforehand. The reason why they had given him sympathetic glances was that they both knew that while he was putting on a show now, that is all it was, a show. They could see right through him and knew that he was completely worried for Kagome's safety, even if he hides it, he does care a great deal for the little miko. They also worried about him as well, he hadn't eaten much in the past five days, and judging by the slight dark circles under his eyes, he hadn't slept very well either. They in all actuality didn't know who really to defend. Inuyasha **was **going a little off the handle, but Kagome had been slightly careless. So they looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement; if he was going to lecture her, then they weren't going to stop him. Why? Because they also some what felt that what Kagome did was out of the question. What if her energy hadn't flared up in time? Kagome would be de…they didn't even want to think about the consequences of her actions.

But their thoughts were cut short when Kagome just stood up and walked out of Kaede's hut with not one word to the hanyou are Miroku and Sango. And where was Shippo during all of this? Sango looked around quickly. Shouldn't he have pummeled Kagome the second she woke up? _'Oh…that's right; he is in the fields with Kaede.'_ Sango had a little scare there; she had forgotten that he went with Kaede.

"We're not done yet Kagome!" Kagome was playing with fire when she just up and left. _'How dare she ignore alpha mate like that?' _Apparently dog demon beliefs differ from those of humans. The males are made to believe that they are the ones that are dominant in the relationship, while the females are submissive. The females should obey, and Inuyasha being half dog demon, certainly felt some of his dominant instincts kick in right now, know that his soon-to-be mate had not listened to him. He quickly wondered why they hadn't kicked in sooner. _'Is it because I have now dubbed her my mate?' _He couldn't think of anything else so he just went with that and went back to silently fuming. _'She'll be sorry.' _He growled, stealing his resolve and decided that he was going to follow her.

"That was odd, Inuyasha you're right, Kagome is being very different and I don't like it. Maybe I should talk to her." Sango was just about to get up when Inuyasha bolted out the door. _'Or not…'_ Sango sighed and sat back down; would Inuyasha help matters, or make them worse?

"I think he has already taken care of that my dearest Sango."

"Who's already taken care of what?" Shippo walked into the hut, he hadn't noticed that both Kagome and Inuyasha had already left, so when he looked upon where Kagome was suppose to be sleeping he kind of freaked out. Miroku noticed this look and quickly corrected him.

"Do not fear Shippo, Lady Kagome and Inuyasha have stepped out for a while." Shippo jumped around excitedly, his adoptive mother was finally awake!!!

"I'm going to go see Kagome." He had jumped up and was about to bound off, when he realized his efforts had been futile. _'Huh?'_ He looked up and found that Miroku was holding his tail. He started to get angry. "Hey, what's the big idea?! I wanna see Kagome!"

"Shippo, Inuyasha and Kagome need a little alone time right now, why don't you go color me a picture?" Sango interjected before Miroku could make a perverted comment about _why_ Inuyasha and Kagome had needed to be alone. Its funny how when you are around a person for a long time, that you pick up their habits, and you know exactly what they are thinking and when. It can be a good thing; she glanced at Miroku, him smiling perversely…_ 'Or it can be a bad thing.'_ She said with a tick right above her eye, now was one of the times where she _didn't _want to know what he was thinking. Meanwhile Shippo was deep in thought.

'_Why doesn't Inuyasha tell her how he feels? It's so obvious! We know Kagome loves him and he obviously loves her so what's the big deal? I mean how hard could it be? Just going up to someone and saying 'hey, I love you!' just four simple words, not that hard!' _He glanced over to Miroku and Sango…_ 'They should tell each other how they feel too! I mean duh! It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Miroku basically only gropes Sango now, well, except for a few other girls, but he cares about Sango! They just don't make any sense, common' it's not that hard to do, geeze! They need to quite being stupid and just do something before I tell everyone for them!' _

He was broken out of his thoughts however by a familiar slap and a thud, everyone had hereby dubbed it the "slap-and-thud", original no? What was the excuse this time? Ah, yes, Miroku had just so suddenly seen something on Sango's backside.

"It was a mosquito I swear!" Sango slapped him across the face.

"PERVERT!!!!" She soon stomped away and left a lecherously grinning Miroku.

"It's worth the pain I suffer." Shippo just rolled his eyes, _'Nope, grown-ups make no sense at all.'_

Read and Review!!!!! Thanks so much!


	7. Emotion I

Here is the long awaited chapter! Sorry it took so long, school and everything…you know how it goes! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha….but I wish I did!

Chapter 7 Emotions I 

Inuyasha was pissed, no I mean not like a little prissy fit, he was royally pissed. He had followed Kagome all around the village tracking her scent. He knew, that she knew, what she was doing. She was a smart little thing she was. But he knew this old trick. She would always do this when she decided she wanted to be alone. She would walk around in circles, hoping to confuse him, however consequently confusing a few villagers as well for they had no idea why she would just start walking/running around in circles. They found this little routine quite odd, but just shook it off. They never would fully understand the girl who wore strange clothes. She wasn't confusing **him **though, because he _never _got confused about _her _scent. He remembered this one time where she had wanted to go for a walk but he had plainly told her 'no'. She was always getting in trouble, let alone she had wanted to go by herself, which was just not an option. Not to mention it had been night time and that was even worse than if it had been at day time. So he clearly told her she couldn't go. Why had she wanted to go anyways…it hadn't mattered at the time. When he had went to get some water she had snuck out without his knowledge and when he came back she was no where to be found. He became enraged and immediately went looking for her. He had scanned the entire village and still there was no sign of her. He had started to freak out realizing that something could have happened to her. This had been before they had gotten really close and he hadn't known her scent too well so he was basically out of luck. He had even jumped in the well to only worry her mother by telling her that he couldn't find her. He came back later, after the third degree from her family, and found her sitting safe and sound in Kaede's hut. When asked, or yelled I should say, about where she had gone, she simply stated that she went for a walk and it was his fault if he couldn't find her. From then on out he had never forgotten her scent, for all other reasons aside, just to spite her and make sure she never did that again. Point proven, Inuyasha smirked to himself when he caught scent of her heading away from the village and towards the river. When he got there he had a little trouble seeing her. He confused himself. Her scent said she came out here and yet…she wasn't?

A few moments later he was about to head back to the village, maybe she **had **gotten better at this little game. But then he saw her. He noticed why he hadn't been able to see her before. She had been behind a bush that was covering the edge of the water. There, however, he had to stop and blink a few times. _'Whoa...' _He saw the most awe-inspiring scene he had ever laid eyes on. It had gotten darker, and now the moon was shining upon her hair, while she looked at her reflection, the water reflected more light that was shone up into her face, not bright but not dim either. In other words, it looked like the very light of the night was surrounding her. He had to clear his throat before he could properly yell at her. In fact, he had to do it quite a few times, it being even harder to get his mouth to move. Why was he mad at her again? Oh…yeah…

"Oi! Wench, when I'm talking to you, you don't just get up and leave hear me?!" He had now remembered why he had been mad. He Noticed she wasn't saying anything since nothing came except for silence. Inuyasha was shaking with rage now. She had pushed him away when he tried to hug her, refused him when he had wanted to apologize, walked away from him when he was talking, which in the first place she hadn't been talking to him anyway, which is another reason why he was ticked off, **and** she was now just completely ignoring him. The nerve! He was tired of all the crap she has been pulling lately. Tired of having to try and be the good guy for once, which was something he did not like to do. And now she was just pretending that he wasn't there?! Inuyasha was not one to be ignored.

"Oi!!!" he bellowed, "I am sick and tired of your little attitude problem Bitch, so either get over or I'll…" He never got to finish. With amazing speed that he never knew Kagome possessed she had gotten up, stepped over to him and slapped him straight across the face. It had stung just a tiny bit, it really did not hurt, considering she was a pathetic human, but the basic principle of the thing was that she had _slapped _him. That hurt him, probably more than she had ever hurt him before. It had been one of the deadliest blows he had ever received, but not because of physical injury, but because of something else. She had never struck him before, never. Kagome was not one to get violent, that is except when she sat him, or yelled at him, or…well she _really _wasn't, not in that way anyway. All of the other times he just ignored her temper, but this had gotten his attention. He was deeply hurt by her actions; it was a blow to his pride as well. He was still blinking after a few minutes, completely and utterly shocked, not really sure what to say now that thing had gotten so awkward. The whole argument seemingly leaving his mind.

"You want to know about tired?! Fine! I'll tell you about tired. I am so sick and tired of you treating me like dirt **all-the-time**. Kagome this, Kagome that. I'm so sick of it!" but she wasn't finished yet, oh by far, she had a lot of things to get off of her chest and she wasn't wasting her chance. She had been patient, had tried to get him to not hate her even more, she took all of his crap all of the time, and he just had to go and keep yelling at her like she was a some_thing _instead of some_one. _

"Do you know all that I do for you huh? Do you? I have given up my entire life back home just so I would help you find the jewel shards, I don't even know my own family anymore and I don't even have my friends there either. They barely know me! I have tried and tried to be good enough for you, you know? But it's never enough is it? it's never going to be enough is it? No, because I'm not Kikyo, ok I AM NOT KIKYO!!! I am saying it loud and clear so everyone can hear it. We may have the same soul but we are two different people! And do you want to know something else?" Inuyasha knew he had no choice, he was still stunned from her words and the slap he couldn't say anything. He figured that this had needed to happen for a while now. Something had been troubling her from day one and he knew that the time was now when it would all come out. But just how much was going to come out? Had he gone too far this time? Once she was done yelling and shooting off steam everything would go back to normal right?

"I am so tired of not being Kagome! I go to any village and I am immediately the reincarnation of Kikyo, the copy of Kikyo, the miko who has Kikyo's soul. I am NEVER Kagome, NEVER! And I'm tired of it, at least people in my era know me as Kagome! I am Kagome Higurashi and I am 18 years old, my soul belongs to me!" At this point in time Kagome couldn't hold in the tears any longer. The frustration was gnawing at her, trying to get everything out but not nearly as quick enough as she wanted to. She remembered all of the times she was mistaken as the priestess Kikyo; how many times she would have to correct spontaneous villagers and prove that she wasn't her. Which that wasn't really an easy thing to do considering most thought she looked exactly like her plus she was a miko. Many still did not believe her, thinking that she was just being modest or some how her brain got addled during a battle and she simply couldn't remember. Little did they know she had remembered every time they had been mistaken; every time a demon came after her looking for revenge against the dead miko that haunted her dreams. All the nights she had nightmares of one day waking up to find out that she **was **Kikyo and that she had only thought she was Kagome; waking up in a cold sweat being in fear that she wasn't her own person anymore. It was like having a twin and people mistook you all the time. So you did things that made you two completely different so people could tell you apart. She had tried to be different from Kikyo, but with the priestess placed so high upon the pedestal there was no where she could go except down. It was infuriating. Not to mention the fact that she loved the same man…err…hanyou that the dead priestess had "loved" as well. Sometimes she just wondered if it was because of Kikyo that she had any feelings at all toward him. But whenever those thoughts came up she immediately squelched them, knowing that Kikyo had NEVER loved the hanyou as much as she did. She loved him with all of her being and it hurt to be compared to the person that he himself loved. Someone had told her once that the hardest thing in life is when someone you love, loves someone else. And now being in this situation she had a new found respect for that person, because they hit the arrow right on the head with that one. Not to mention always being compared with that person who the person you love loves kind of ticks you off every so often. Always being compared and knowing that you come up short is not the biggest self-esteem booster out there. And the way she had just yelled at him, was not helping her chances. But, she knew that she could hold these thoughts in no longer. They were festering inside of her and she knew that if she kept them hidden for any longer, that she wouldn't be able to take it.

She knew He would be beyond pissed right now, but she was beyond caring. Tears were falling from her face blinding her vision to where Inuyasha only looked like a red blur. But she didn't care; the only thing on her mind right now was trying to make him understand. And if this was the way she was going to have to do it, then so be it. Before this night was over, someone was going to understand something if it killed her.

Inuyasha was watching while hanging onto every word. He was torn. Wanting to comfort her; cradle her; whisper soft nothings into her ear just to get her to stop. He could handle anything except the scent and sound of her tears. That was one demon he could not fight; he had never felt as helpless as he did when Kagome was crying. But he knew that what needed to be said should be said, it was now or never, no matter how much he wanted her to stop because he knew it was hurting her, not to mention it was probably going to hurt him as well. The time was rare in effect actually, for the first time in years, Inuyasha was scared, and he had no idea what to do about it.

"But you know what; there is a difference between us that many people soon find out. The difference being that I am not, and never will be, as good as her, will I?"

'_Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHAT?' _Inuyasha felt like he had been hit with a ton of bricks; the type of feeling you get when you expect one thing but the thing that you get is not what you were expecting at all. _'Why in the world would she think that' _he felt his anger start to rise. After all he had shown her, after all they had been through together, the little idiot still believed that she was never going to be as good as Kikyo, how stupid could she possibly get?! Now **he **was frustrated.

"I will never be as good as her Inuyasha I know that now okay! You don't have to rub it in every time you go and see her! You don't have to come back acting like nothing happened when I know something did. I am not going to be her Inuyasha, I can't! I am so frustrated right now it's unbelievable. Every time we see her she calls me the stupid copy, childish reincarnation, soul stealer, you name it! And you let her do it! When she tells me these things and you don't even stop her, what do you expect me to do? Do you expect me to not believe it! Because I'm sorry but I do! Because I **am** just a stupid copy, a childish reincarnation and a soul stealer, she was her first and I can't believe that I was too stupid to notice. It hurts Inuyasha! It hurts to know that you will always, no matter how hard you try, that you will always be second best, always for all time!" She choked out a sob; it felt like she could barely breathe. But by this time Inuyasha was boiling, his vision was starting to have _'how in the name of kami could she think that?'_, between the tears she has shed for him, the times he has just stayed up and watched her sleep, protecting her like a male would his mate, and even her stupid sit commands. Telling her things that he would have never told anybody, and yet she still thought this? She still thought that she would never measure up Kikyo. _'She's right. She will never be in comparison to Kikyo,_' He scowled. If anything she's BETTER than Kikyo _ever _was. Why couldn't she see that? Why couldn't she see what he saw?

As if in answer to his silently asked question, "Actions speak louder than words Inuyasha! I see the way you look at me, wishing that I was her. The way you get so pissed at me so easily, yell at me every chance you get, it's because I'm not her Inuyasha, I'm not her! I know you would rather have her by your side than some stupid copy but I don't know what to tell you! If you want her so bad, please go take her! Just do it, bring her back and I can go home and she will search for the shards with you! I see the way you look at her, wishing she had my soul and could be alive. And that hurts! But what I think hurts the most is that now every time I look into my reflection, all I see is _her_ staring back at me. I don't even think I am Kagome anymore! I don't even see **myself **as her anymore. I mean I find my self wishing to be her, envying her because of all she can do and I can't! But at the same time I am _hating _her, I want to be Kagome. The Kagome who has a soul of her own! The Kagome who doesn't care about what other people think, but I can't do that anymore, I can't! Everyone wants me to be her, so why not? I have nothing to lose, I'm just your stupid shard detector and a weak fighter, so what have I got to lose? Nothing, absolutely nothing ok! There now you know! So you can quite buggin' me now alright! I'll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine! I even tried to just get along with you, no more yelling, no more getting into fights, no more 'iting you. But it just didn't work out that way ok, I give up, you've won! I have completely and totally made myself look worse than I already am, just because I want to be myself, you think your tired FINE! But you will never, EVER be as tired as me…never" The last part she whispered but Inuyasha still heard her loud and clear. He couldn't believe it, he really couldn't. After all of this time of them being together how could she possibly think that? His anger was beyond his control now, his demon side taking over _'Your mate is never allowed to raise her voice at you, she must be submissive'_

"You stand there acting so stunned Inuyasha, like everything is so new to you. Well it shouldn't be! I'm sorry I'm not her alright Inuyasha, I'm sorry! I know you want her and that I will never compare but you don't have to be so mean and rude all the time you know! You don't have to call me wench or girl! You could call me by my name, you know, KAGOME! Or if you prefer you can call me by Kikyo, I am simply a copy of her anyway…" Kagome said that last line very coldly and Inuyasha had heard enough…he was not going to sit around and let Kagome feel all sorry for herself, let alone raise her voice at him, that was just a dreadful blow to his already bruised pride, and honestly he thought he had been through a lot in just a few days. How could she be so inconsiderate?! She was getting aggravated, and honestly she had a right to be, but right now that was not what he was thinking about. He was thinking about all of the horrible things she had just basically yelled at him. His mind was one sided and he couldn't think about her feelings right now if he wanted to. Even with his sword at his hip his demon blood was churning. In his eyes, his mate was trying to be dominant and that was just NOT and option. She wanted to fight for dominance than so be it. He would fight and he would win; he would show her once and for all that he was the one in control. No more yelling, no more leaving for home when he told her not to, no more damn sitting him, she would understand before this night was over.

He lunged at her...

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	8. Emotion II

Hey guys! New chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha!

Chapter 8 Emotions II

He lunged at her…and in a matter of minutes had her pinned to a tree. His eyes held fire in them that had only been shown a few times; a fierceness in his gaze that she couldn't comprehend. He had this scowl on his face that she had never seen before, it made her nervous. She wasn't afraid of him; no, Kagome could never be afraid of Inuyasha, for he would never hurt her. However right now she wasn't feeling like she was taking a walk in the park either.

"Why in the seven hells you would think anything like that?" His voice was deadly quiet; much louder than anything he could have yelled. It gave her chills; a tingly feeling running up her back.

Now was the part was Kagome was getting slightly scared, she wasn't scared of _him _she was scared of the things he could do. She had never heard him talk like that, except on the rare occasions of which he was in his demon form, but she pushed it away, he wouldn't hurt her, his shards were too precious. And just because he got all serious on her didn't mean that she had to back down. If she backed down now, after all of this, what would that make her look like? When things started to get rough she ran away, that is what she has always done. But not now. She wanted to show Inuyasha that she was strong, and if she backed down now, she would never be able to prove that.

"Well what else am I suppose to believe? Tell me what I'm supposed to think with the way you act around me huh? You constantly yell at me for being good for nothing, you make fun of me, and you call me names. Am I supposed to be flattered?!" He narrowed his eyes while she yelped as he pushed her harder up against the tree, his right let between both of hers, his hands were on either side of her head, effectively trapping her. She wasn't in pain, she was uncomfortable at his oh-so-close proximity. He growled low in his throat as his claws dug into the bark further, scraping his hands in the process, but it was all he could do to hold in his frustration. His eyes flashed red once more and then went back to normal. Kagome winced, _'Have I really gone too far?' _She looked at him once more. Maybe she went a little farther than intended, and maybe she pushed him just a little more than wanted, and it probably would have been a good idea if she hadn't yelled so much either. He leaned in closer his cheek brushing hers, making he wince for an entirely different reason. She sealed her resolve, _'No I haven't gone too far, the jerk deserves it!' _

"You little wench, how _dare _you take that tone with me!" Inuyasha had no idea what this sudden feeling was, it had just come upon him so quickly. His demon side had resurfaced again; the fang at his hip seemingly useless. He wanted to make her back down, he _had _to, there was just this subliminal urge taking over his body that he had no control over. Why was he so angry that she was yelling at him? It didn't make any what so ever, they had always yelled at one another before, and then she would sit him and run away. Why was it affecting him this strongly now? He didn't understand what was happening, he didn't want to give into it, it was foreign and something he was not at all use to. What was even more strange was the fact that it felt right at the same. When she winced and then looked at him as if she could take him down, the feeling took over, him being unable to do anything to try to thwart it. He leaned forward and slammed his mouth against hers.

Kagome's mind screeched to a halt; the thoughts of their previous fight quickly flying off and fleeing from her mind, he body felt like mush and abruptly lost the will to fight, she couldn't find it anymore. Her mind told her to not let this happen while her body moved of its own accord and did what it wanted. Her eyes wide and lips not moving, herself frozen in place, well, this had been unexpected to say the least. He kissed her hungrily and forcefully with a passion that he didn't even know he had. In his right mind he knew that this wasn't supposed to be happening; that she would be furious and most likely sit him until he could walk no more. This just made him want to do it more. Who knew how long it would be until he got to do this to her again? It felt so wonderful; his mouth move over hers, like he was yelling at her but with a completely different effect. Moreover, He didn't understand these instincts, the force driving him; why he felt the unrelenting urge to make her submit to him. In a way it slightly scared him, to be feeling this strongly about her, about these instincts telling him he was doing the right thing. But, he wasn't doing anything to stop it either. He didn't think he could, though, even if he tried. Besides…who was he to go against his instincts, he had never done so before so why start now? Instead of doing what he probably should have done, and pulled back, he did the exact opposite, he deepened the kiss, and for once, not caring what the outcome could possibly be. Anything that felt this good couldn't be stopped. His whole body had started tingling the moment their lips had touched. He was finding it hard to not just lose himself in her; to not take it a step further and make him submit to her in _every _way. But he knew that when this was over, it was probably over for good, and by god he would enjoy every minute, every second of this that he possibly could. His mouth moved against hers, coaxing her along and urging her to do the same, to do _something. _He wanted he to kiss him back, to show that she accepted him, because that is all he had ever wanted. He just wanted someone to love him for him, and maybe she couldn't love him, in fact she probably didn't, but he could hope. Right now, he wasn't feeling to happy about it. He was trying to keep thinking as he lightly nipped at her lips, trying to snap her back to reality. His wish was granted when finally, after much coaxing, Kagome shut her eyes and hesitantly kissed him back. She was still stiff, most likely waiting for this to be a dream and to give her hopes up, but at least she had kissed him back.

Now it was Inuyasha's turn to open his eyes wide, _'she's kissing me back?_' He really could not believe the turn of events. His knees buckled and he had to push her back farther into the tree in order to keep both of their weights up. He felt as though his whole world was drowned out, there was no Naraku, no undead miko, no anyone; just him and her; the only two people to exist right then. This seemed so surreal as she lightly licked his lips. He couldn't do it, he couldn't hold it any longer, he whined. The feelings where to much, he couldn't stand them. At first he had been prepared for the worse and had pictured her doing anything but that; sitting him, pushing him away, yelling…anything but actually _kissing _him back. He was truly bewildered at how the tables could change so quickly. As for now though, he didn't want to think too much on it, right now they were together, side by side, and that was all that mattered, that was the only thing that had every mattered.

But alas, all good things must come to an end eventually, and they both needed air. He let go of her, realizing how strongly he was holding her, and took a shaky breath. He had to try and control his emotions right now; he didn't know what he was going to do if he lost any more control than he already had. He was still wobbly and his mind didn't want to clear the suspicious fog that had been placed there. He shut his eyes and concentrated on her breathing, on his own breathing, trying to calm down before the fighting match came, the match that was unavoidable. He cringed inwardly, _'I wonder if I will be able to walk tomorrow?' _He highly doubted it.

He smelt the scent of tears, his eyes going immediately to her face, shocked. The fight zoomed back into his mind and once again felt the anger start to well up. What the hell did she have to be crying about? Stupid girl, what is her problem? He pushed her away she cried; he brought her closer she cried! He would never understand her, it was on his very, very short list of things he would never be able to do, right under getting along with his brother. The scent got stronger, as his emotions, anger taking the lead, mounted up at the same pace. Memories flashed in his mind of all the times she had won arguments by using that sit command, at how often she yelled at him, how she got mad when he didn't do anything, and his anger turned into rage. _'Mate…must…submit…' _He shook his head not having any idea what that was, he would worry about it later. She sniffled but he was just so _pissed _off right now that he really couldn't try and make himself comfort her like he normally did. He wanted to, but these primal urges he was getting would not let him do it. His mate needed to be taught a lesson; he caught himself before he touched her face, he just couldn't do it. Right now that just wasn't an option, he was going to let her cry all she wanted, and then they would talk.

Before Kagome was able to speak, she needed to calm down first, because she was afraid that if she had spoken then, then she surely would have broken down the wall she had worked so hard to build around herself. At first she had been thrilled to know that he was kissing her of his own free will, she was ecstatic! She had kissed him back too. She wanted to be able to not worry about anything, she wanted to not think about fighting or yelling or her cold shell of which she bared herself in, but questions nevertheless assaulted her mind. Flashes of memories came and went quicker than she could think about them, but there was always a common factor, and that was Kikyo. Kikyo was present and in every single one. The last flash she was able to catch, yet it was the one she wished would have stayed away. There was Kikyo, and Inuyasha, by the tree kissing, while Kagome was tied up there and forced to watch. That was the time she had almost succeeded in taking him to hell with her. But the thought that caught her was that he was kissing her, and now he was kissing Kagome. Could he tell them apart? Did he want to? Was he just kissing her because she was a copy of Kikyo? As tears welled in her eyes she realized that that was probably the case. She couldn't let him fool her, not again. She was too worn out for that, so when she finally had the strength to fortify that wall again, she spoke. "That was mean Inuyasha…" He had been thinking about apologizing, managing getting a hold of his anger, but when she told him he had been mean, after all of the yelling she had just done, so much for that…_'What?! I just kissed her for crying out loud, how was that** mean**?!'_ with this new sense of anger at the entire situation, his frustration once again started to build, _'I'm starting to act like I'm I heat! What is my problem?' _

"You can't pretend I'm Kikyo Inuyasha," he gasped silently, mouth opening as he once again suffered from shock, "Please, please, _please_ don't act like I'm her! You can't pretend like I'm someone I'm not Inuyasha, it doesn't work that way. I just want to go home, why won't you let me," her voice took on a harder edge to it, "it's not like you want me here anyway!" She wasn't looking at him; her shaded bangs obscuring his vision of her eyes. He growled in complete and utter frustration; it was a guttural sound coming from somewhere deep inside…

"You…are…so…_impossible_!" He screamed, he couldn't believe after all this time, she still thought he wanted to Kikyo! "How can you even think that I want her?! After all that we've been through…how…I mean….AGH!" He just didn't know what to say to her anymore, he had tried talking to her…it didn't work…he had tried _showing _her and it didn't work…how else was he suppose to show her if the idiot just didn't understand! _'I swear, with all that studying you think she would be smarter! Gah!'_ He took a calm breath, sincerely trying to counter his rage, like Kagome had showed him many times, while counting to ten. He really didn't know where she came up with that, in fact he found it a bit stupid to count when you are angry. Why would someone start counting when they got angry? Would that just make them even angrier, because of the situation and _now _having to focus on counting to ten? He really would never understand her, but in an odd way it seemed to help. Who knows? After reaching ten He let the breath he had been holding out slowly and then asked her in what he hoped was a calm voice, "Why do you think I still love Kikyo?" He looked at her waiting for an answer, hoping to Kami that he actually got somewhere with her, because if this didn't stop soon, he would not be accountable for his actions…

Kagome looked up at him bewildered, "Because…..you….do…" she said slowly, as if she was talking to a child, he bit his tongue to stop from lashing out at her, kami was that every hard. She had stated it as though it were the easiest thing in the world that he should have known. He looked at her like she had lost her mind. She looked at him as if he was stupid or something. That did it.

"How can you be so stupid!? I don't understand you, I don't love Kikyo, I don't think I ever really did! I needed a friend and she needed a way out, that was it! I had thought I was in love, but I wasn't." He was pacing around now, not looking at her. These words were hard for him to say, but if it meant that Kagome would finally believe him, then he would do it. Whatever it would take to get her to understand, he would do it. "Thinking about it now, I had still cared for her, she was my first friend. Someone who didn't look at me like I was an insect! She treated me well Kagome and for that I will always be grateful…but that friend of mine has changed; she is no longer my friend no matter how much I want her to be. I can't care for her anymore Kagome, it is not in my power to be able to! I feel as though I have betrayed her in some way! But I have come to realize that she brought this upon herself, she let herself become this way. And for that I have no regrets, I don't even know her anymore." He swallowed preparing himself for what he was going to say next. He didn't want to, in fact, he had been fine with the way things were before. Sure it hadn't been the best of times, but for what he was about to tell her, right now he was wishing that some how he could just go back in time and put this behind him, he shook his head, that had made no sense what so ever… "Kagome….I like you…a lot, and I'll do whatever it takes to make you understand." Until he was sure of how she herself felt, he couldn't tell her the whole truth just yet. He wanted, oh kami how he wanted to, but now was not the right time. Too many things left to be done, too many things that could get in the way, not to mention he wasn't about to bare his soul to her for fear of rejection, he just couldn't sum up the courage. This would have to do for now. He hoped it was enough.

"You can't mean that…" Kagome sighed, this was either a dream or a really cruel joke done by Naraku, either one was not very pleasing to her. She had understood the words he couldn't say, maybe he liked her a little more than just "liking" her, but she wasn't sure. He didn't mean it either way, she knew this, and had come to the realization a long time ago, only recently letting herself believe it. She couldn't even dare let herself hope. She just couldn't. She had done that so many times already, played into an ignorant role where she thought she had had a chance. She had come running back to him every time. After every fight, after every battle, after every time he went to see Kikyo, she had come back. She just could not do that anymore. Did he know how hard it was for her every time to come back and once again have your dreams crushed when he went back to his past love? Did he? No…she didn't think he did. "If you meant that then you wouldn't keep going back to her…" she sighed one more time, and so did he, realizing the truth in her statement.

"Kagome…I go to her because I feel as though I am obligated to; it's like I owe her something. I don't even really know why I guess, but I promise you though; if you don't want me to go to her anymore then I won't!" He quickly reassured her. Trying to get her to understand; hoping that this would make things easier for everyone. In an odd sort of way, he was hoping that she didn't. That she would tell him that he didn't have to go. That would certainly get rid of a lot of awkward conversations…

"You big jerk! How can you just lie to me like that?!" Her breath hitched as she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, _'He doesn't deserve to see me cry.' _"You know you'll go back! You'll always go back!" She had gone through this before, time and time again, him saying he will never go back to her yet doing it just a little while later. At first she had misinterpreted his actions; thinking that she had meant more to him. But as time wore on, she realized that this had not been the case, and she dreaded all of the silent gestures, and small touches, the hugs that she would sometimes receive after a battle; an embrace that hurt her soul, knowing that he didn't mean it but wishing so terribly that he did. It was the same old thing and she was tired of "old". She wanted something new, something better and different. Not the same old heart-breaking thing. She wouldn't be able to tolerate that, in fact she wouldn't, she refused to!

The tears had been a shock, something he had not expected. But her blatantly calling him a liar right to his face, was something that Inuyasha would not tolerate.

"To hell with this!" Inuyasha yelled and suddenly Kagome found her mouth in his again. He was devouring her, totally and completely dominating the kiss. His eyes were looking into her scared ones the whole time, begging her to see the truth in them. Kagome saw in his eyes all of the passion, anger, fear, and love in his eyes at that moment. She couldn't believe it, she just couldn't. But she couldn't help when her eyes closed and she started kissing him back. His hands left the tree, where the bark now had claw marks all the way through it, and pulled her closer. His hands were wrapped around her waist now while she was toying with the collar of his haori.

They eventually broke for air and were panting, although Inuyasha was kissing Kagome's neck by now and leaving little red marks where he scraped his fangs against her skin. Kagome let out a moan when he pulled her more against him, if that is if it is even possible. He started back up again and captured her mouth with his own. He licked her mouth and asked for entrance which she eagerly granted.

His tongue delved into her mouth tasting her. This time Inuyasha let out the moan and started sucking on her bottom lip. Kagome shyly brought her tongue in his mouth and explored him as well. They both loved the taste of each other, but soon enough they did need air to breathe.

They were both heavily panting when they pulled apart. Inuyasha looked down at Kagome who cheeks were dark pink as were her lips from all of the kissing they had been doing. Kagome hesitantly looked up at Inuyasha. She found him smirking down at her. She rolled her eyes. She didn't know what to do, really she didn't. She knew this wasn't real, but it felt so…amazing that she just couldn't with stand it. She couldn't fight him and she knew that, but what was worse was that he knew that as well.

Inuyasha growled low in his throat as he brought his mouth down on hers once more. She gasped, a little startled and started kissing him back immediately. This kiss was hungry, unlike the other ones, a little strange to both persons. They had frustration over the years and apparently it was all being let out in that one kiss. It was a breath-taking kiss, literally. He was soon dominating her again, _'as it should be'_ he thought cheekily. In demon terms the male was always the dominate one, always…

Kagome squeeked within her mouth as he scraped a fang over her lip, she shivered…

"Inuyasha! Kagome!" Inuyasha growled. Stupid Shippo, always ruining things! Both parties pulled away quickly, Kagome was blushing the color of his haori while Inuyasha had some slight pink tint to his cheeks, whether from embarrassment or anger Kagome didn't know, perhaps it was both.

"We're not done…" She had started to walk away, in the direction of Shippo's voice when he had grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to his back tightly. This seemed so unreal, she couldn't believe it, literally. She didn't know if it was because she honestly didn't believe the recent happenings, or if maybe, she was scared about…_ 'No! He doesn't want this, he doesn't mean this! Quite dreaming! You're just his fantasy Kikyo, the one he wants when **she's **not around.'_ Inuyasha said he had liked her, which she knew had to be hard for him because he did not express his feelings so openly and not often. But, he had said he _liked _her not love, not to mention he didn't say the reason of why he liked her. She needed more proof then just his word, because even though he was the person she would trust with her life, when it came to choosing between her and Kikyo, he was really stupid. No, he was lying, he just wanted to make sure he didn't lose his shard detector, Kikyo was probably too good for the job so he had to make sure she stayed…with that in mind she pushed his arms off of her and stepped away, missing his disappointed puzzled look.

"I think you need to leave Inuyasha," She spoke quietly, for if the silence was broken everything would shatter, "just leave me alone." Without any warning she started to walk in the direction of where she had heard Shippo yelling for them, trying this once again, walking more briskly, afraid that Inuyasha would try to stop her once more. She didn't want that. She wanted solitude when crying, and oh, how she would cry when she was alone. Inuyasha stayed there with a glare on his face, he didn't really know what to think anymore. It was frustrating to the point of no return; trying to express feelings to someone who thought you were lying and didn't believe you. There was only so much one hanyou could do. Perhaps there was another way to show her; some way to make her understand, there had to be! He couldn't go on like this, her mad at him and acting all depressed, it just wouldn't work out. He headed towards the voices as well, smiling a small smile. She would understand, if it had to take him 500 years to get her to believe him then he would do it. She was not getting out of it this easily. His smile shifted to a smirk, he could think of a few ways to change his mind…this was going to be **so **much fun, probably more fun than he had ever experienced before. He could hardly wait.

I don't think that was too much of a cliff hanger, was it? I don't know I can't really tell! Hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter! Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeee leave a review because that will make my day so much better! Thanks!


	9. Blasphemy

Hey guys! So sorry for the long update!!!! It was completely my fault. I wasn't getting many reviews and I felt really down about it, so I was like "who cares if I update or not" and then I let my school work consume me for a while. But then I thought about all of the people who _had _reviewed and got off of my high horse and decided to update. Why should the ones who actually like my story have to suffer because of the ones who don't? I promise the updates won't be this far apart, at least I hope not anyway. I'll let you read now! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 9 Blasphemy

"Inuyashaaaaaaaaaaa….."Shippo continued to whine, "We have been walking forever! Can't we stop for a break now…?"

"Oi, quite your whinin' brat, it's not like you're walking anyway, all you do is perch on people's shoulders so what's the big deal? Stupid runt always complaining…" Inuyasha continued to grumble as Miroku and Sango noticed that Kagome wasn't with them anymore. Inuyasha must have been too distracted to notice, he was still mad over their interruption earlier yesterday. It had been a full day already and Kagome had went back to being emotionless and it was grating on his nerves.

"Inuyasha, where is Kagome?" Miroku asked seeing as the hanyou continued walking not noticing that the rest of the gang had stopped to look for their missing comrade.

Inuyasha immediately froze mid-ranting. How could he be so stupid as to not know she wasn't there?! _'I am such an idiot!'_ he was running before he even knew it, trying to sniff her out, he didn't catch anything though, it was getting close to sunset seeing as they had been walking all day, _'stupid girl probably just started lagging behind and got herself lost' _or at least that was what Inuyasha was convincing himself, he didn't know what he would do if anything had happened to her with him not being able to protect her. It was the strangest thing, why had he not noticed she was gone? Was he really too deep in thought? Or had she just been so…dull for so long that he believed it to be normal now? Her not talking, not communicating, were things going to go back to normal? He shook his head roughly; _'Of course they'll go back to normal!' _he wouldn't admit that he still held some doubts, not even to himself. Sango and Shippo were right behind him on Kirara, while Miroku was running on foot trying valiantly to catch up with the adrenaline-rushed half demon.

Inuyasha came to a halt when he heard the scream, and look towards the others, but that is not what got his attention. The sky's color had just darkened; it now looked pitch black; very ominous and foreboding. This did not set well with Inuyasha at all. _'What the…'_ his thoughts ceased however, when Naraku's poisonous insects started swarming around him; engulfing him and ready to attack.

"AAHHHH" Shippo screamed than ran behind some bushes where he knew, or at least hoped, that he would be safe. Inuyasha immediately withdrew his sword and started hacking them to bits. All the while this was happening they didn't know they had an audience…_ 'Very soon Inuyasha, very soon you will see that you belong with me in hell, I intend to make you keep that promise, no matter what it takes' _(a/n: talk about stalker) Kikyo soon started to walk away her soul catchers carrying an unconscious Kagome in their grasp. _'I will make him see how worthless she is, and that he doesn't need a copy when he can have the real thing, just you wait Inuyasha, you are mine…'_ With that being the last thought in her head, Kikyo headed off towards Naraku's castle, where the fun was going to be starting very, very soon. She shook her heard, the thought of hurting the girl shouldn't be this appealing to her. If she had been alive she would never have even considering do this to someone, what had happened to her? Her brow furrowed. She would not think such thoughts, the past was the past and nothing would be able to change it. She smirked, but she _could _change the future.

'_I don't have time for this!' _Inuyasha was quickly becoming very aggravated, not to mention worried, about Kagome. She was still not found and with Naraku's insects here that could only mean one thing. _'He has her.'_ That made his rage completely out of control, he was fed up with these pointless demons. What if she was hurt? He didn't even want to image the things that Naraku could be doing to her right now.

"That is ENOUGH! Get out of the way! Wind Scar!" The bright light immediately enveloped everything in sight. The light was gradually fading away and with it the buzzing of the insects, Inuyasha would have smirked if Kagome wasn't still missing. H just wished she could have seen it. Yet, his relief was short lived, for when the smoke completely cleared there stood Naraku.

"Naraku! What have you done with Kagome?" Inuyasha now knew for sure that he had something to do with this, Kagome was careless yes, but she wasn't as careless as some might think, no she did have _some_ common sense, and she wouldn't just go running off without telling them, without telling _him. _

"Kukuku, is the half-breed worried about his little miko? Don't worry she is in good hands, well, they're not _good_ hands per say, but they are better than mine." Naraku chuckled once more. No one present could be sure if this was the real Naraku or just one of his puppets. They glanced at each other wearily.

"What have you done with her Naraku!?" Sango had been silent for long enough. Kagome was like her sister and if Naraku had dared try and mess with her, there would be hell to pay. Miroku looked at her, showing awe for the woman by his side. She was so strong-willed and caring when it came to family, such as their little group. He smiled inwardly, how he loved her so. But this thoughts shifted. He was not at all pleased with the situation. He hated being here and yet not being able to do anything. His wind tunnel was completely useless thanks to the poisonous insects roaming about. His glare shifted to Naraku when he began to speak once more.

"You will all find out soon enough. It has been recently discovered that the miko can be of good use to us. She has a tremendous amount of power, and when she comes over to our side, I will be even more powerful then I already am…." If Inuyasha hadn't been pissed before, he was now. "…especially when I take her as my mate." Naraku purposely let his gaze shift towards Inuyasha and was highly amused when he noticed the hanyou's eyes were shifting between amber and red; gripping his sword so hard that his knuckles were white.

"Kagome will never join you!" Seeing as Inuyasha was in no mood to speak right now considering the rage that was blinding him, Miroku decided he should be the one to counter Naraku's claim. When he saw that Naraku wasn't even paying attention to him, he shifted his eyes to where Naraku's were. Everyone could see what this was doing to Inuyasha and neither himself or Sango wanted his demon blood to be released. It startled him a great deal when he realized just how strong Inuyasha was gripping the tetsusaiga and yet he was still starting to transform.

"Oh, you never know how much darkness a person has in their heart until it is set free, isn't that right Inuyasha?" Miroku was startled; he hadn't thought he had been listening. He looked at Inuyasha just as he gripped his sword tighter even still. "And that is exactly what I intend to do with young Kagome. Well not _me _per say, but ah yes, an…old acquaintance from the past." He fixed his eyes on Inuyasha, noticing the hanyou's stiff posture he laughed. "I can see you are pondering about the possibilities hanyou, but fear not, you will not have to wonder for long." Naraku waved his hand suddenly and it got darker yet still, to the point of where everything was almost no longer visible. Kanna appeared as quickly as the darkness had come; a beacon in the night, she looked as pale as ever. Her mirror shifted towards them all before Naraku took it from her. With another wave of his hand, the mirror grew to a much bigger size (a/n: around the size of a half of a movie theater screen, sorry that is the only way I could describe it.)

"Now don't try anything while the show is going on, you don't want to ruin it now do you?" As if on cue roots sprung out of the ground and trapped all of them, they didn't even have time to react, the roots, actually being his tentacles, had them trapped from head to toe. ( a/n: Not really from their head, more like their shoulders but the expression sounds better if you use the word "head" instead of "shoulders"). They were still able to see, the only part free where their necks and head. Inuyasha's sword was pinned down to the ground, having been knocked out of his hand upon the impact and thrown to the ground. That was not good.

"Now that we are all settled, let us see what is happening with the young miko." It was odd because they had yet to come to terms with everything that had happened. It all had all occurred so fast: Kagome being gone, the attack, Naraku appearing, and now they were going to be watching something happen to Kagome in the mirror. This day was not turning out to be as good as they would have hoped. The mirror's image started to swirl, their reflections they were no longer seeing, as the image became clear once more, they realized that what they were looking at was far, far worse.

Inuyasha's blood had run cold by what he had seen in the mirror. It took every bit of strength he had and yet he could still not free himself from these stone-like growths! And the worst part of it being, he could not help Kagome, and that was slowly killing him from the inside out. The young miko in question was standing in the middle of a field it looked like. Opposite of her was none other than Kikyo, another factor that had turned Inuyasha's blood to ice. The gang held their breath, and Naraku smirked, as Kikyo slowly raised her bow and arrow and aimed it right at her target: Kagome. And Kagome, it looked as though she had seen better days; her appearance haggard. The clothing she wore was ripped and torn in various places, blood being spattered upon her white t-shirt, or what was left of it. But what was most shocking to the group was that not once in the years they had known her, had they ever seen Kagome have that look of such…_rage_ upon her face before. She had been pretty angry and awful lot, especially when Inuyasha did something, however it was nothing compared to this. Her eyes were glowing fire, and her hair was in disarray making her look like some type of wild animal. But she wasn't moving, it was as if she was frozen in place. Kikyo still stood with her bow raised and circling her like a hawk would.

Inuyasha did not want to believe what he was seeing, he knew Kikyo was cold hearted now, and probably would be forever more, but he never thought that she would actually try and _kill _Kagome! Rage took hold of him, that stupid, callous _bitch. _ He had promised to protect both of them, what was he going to do?! He looked once more at Kikyo, the woman he had once thought he loved. A vision came back to him, unbeknownst to all. It was a vision from his father's tomb, as he was fighting Sesshomaru. He remembered that Kagome had started to cry when he told her he would survive, yet she herself, would not. His own words came back to him, _"Shut up and let me protect you!" _His eyes widened in realization, he had made that promise to Kagome way before Kikyo was even resurrected. Kikyo had come first, at one point in his life; however that point in time was now over. The Kikyo he once knew, the friend he once knew, was dead. And she was not coming back. He had promised to protect Kagome, and protect Kagome he would. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner? He shook his head, the past was the past and nothing could be done about it. But right now, his past was threatening his future. He looked at Kagome, noticing her worn-down appearance; she had never looked so beautiful. He looked at Kikyo now; it was hard to believe that Kikyo was truly dead for she is acting now just the way she had done back then, like how she had been when she was alive, always trying to be in control.

Inuyasha's thoughts were interrupted when they started to hear voices. The voices upon, or should I say _in _the mirror started becoming clearer and now understandable.

"Do not you understand it is I that Inuyasha loves? You are just a copy, a figment of imagination, why love you when he can have me, the real thing? He will come to hell with me and leave you all alone, where will you be then?" Kikyo's voice was calm, and in control, yet it was firm and "all-knowing". To the untrained eye it would seem as if her words were having no affect upon Kagome, yet it was now becoming noticeable that Kagome was starting to glow a darker and darker pink, and her eyes turning fiercer then they had ever been.

Naraku spoke quickly before anything else could be said in the mirror, "It has been proven that anger is what triggers her powers, and once she has come to the dark side, she will be mine once and for all.

"STOP IT!" The sudden yell from the mirror snapped everyone's attention back to it. Kagome had kneeled down and had her hands over her ears, still glowing that eerie dark pink and her eyes squeezed shut. What had happened? Was she hurt?

"What? Can you not take the truth little girl, the truth that the one you love will never love you back?" Inuyasha's breath hitched, Kagome didn't love him…what is she talking about? Questions assaulted his mind and would not be prolonged. It was too much to hope for wasn't it? Kagome couldn't love him could she? Is Kagome okay? Was she hurt? Did Kikyo do something to her? Would Kikyo actually shoot her? How could he get Kagome back; how could he save her? Did she really love him? All of these questions just kept plaguing his mind. He couldn't focus; in all truth he had never been so worried. Sure Kagome had been kidnapped before, threatened before, but this was much different. This time it was Kikyo who had kidnapped her, who was threatening her…and the worst part of all was that he couldn't do one thing except sit back and watch as it happened. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life, and at the moment, it looked as if he was about to lose the one thing that had kept him living…

"Please, just stop…" Kagome's voice was now only a whisper, but rang out loud and clear. Kagome Higurashi was pleading. She never begged, she would never stoop so low. Had she really been broken so badly by Kikyo's hateful words? That thought made Inuyasha's blood boil.

Kagome looked up at Kikyo from her place on the ground. She was trying her best to control the anger that was building up inside of her. How dare Kikyo just come out of no where and tell her how worthless she really is, and that Inuyasha could never love her because she is just a copy. She knew all of this, but why did Kikyo have to come and rub it all in. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. As her thoughts and anger once again consumed her, it was one of the strangest feelings she had ever experienced. It was like something was bottling up inside of her that just wanted to be released. Such as when one shakes up a wine bottle and the cork just needs to be released to let go of all of the tension. She couldn't remember a time when she had been so infuriated, and that thought scared her a little. She didn't know what was happening or what was going to happen, all she could feel was this immense anger. It was like a type of burning sensation, like a spreading wildfire that just kept spreading, taking down everything in its path. The only was to release these feelings inside of her was to let her anger go, but she didn't want to, no she wouldn't, something was telling her she shouldn't or the consequences would be dire. But She could feel the energy going through her veins and she just wanted to let it all go, oh, how badly she just wanted to let it all go.

"What is the matter? Can you not take the pain of someone you love betraying your trust? You foolish girl, I have already been through that and have surpassed that point in my life. You however have not. It just goes to show just how weak of a girl you really are. You are even more pathetic than I thought." Kikyo was getting immense pleasure out of seeing the foolish child squirm all the while knowing Inuyasha was watching. Some where in the back of her mind she was disgusted with herself, of course when she was living she had wanted everything to go her way, yet not like this. She would never have verbally, or physically, torture someone like this. It was horrid. Yet, right now all she was feeling was the joy of watching the girl suffer, loving every minute of it. She smirked. Her plan was going perfectly. Naraku wanted Kagome for himself, fine, let him have her. That meant that she got Inuyasha, which is what she truly wanted. Her life was over and she no longer cared about what would happen to the rest of existence. They were not her problem anymore. The Shikon Jewel was not her problem either. She loved the thought of not having to keep that accursed jewel and guard it; it felt as if a huge weight had been hefted off of her shoulders. It was truly a blessed feeling.

"You stupid little girl, you will never be good enough for him, you know it, I know it, and yes," She smiled at Kagome, "…even he knows it."

Kagome could not take it any longer, it hurt, it hurt so bad! She need to let it all go, she couldn't contain it. The words that were spoken hurt like no other, and the fire going on inside of her body was just too much for her to contain. She couldn't control it! Kikyo's words hurt and she didn't want to hear them any longer! She screamed.

And all at once that burning sensation was gone, it was odd for it felt as if it had never been there in the first place. Kagome felt immense relief as all of the feelings that had been cooped up inside of her quickly died away. She didn't know what was happening, why it was happening, how or when. She truly did not even care at this point in time. And when the darkness was fading in around her, it encircling her and making a void of nothing-ness, she embraced it with open arms.

There you go!!! Please read and REVIEW!!! I swear they will make me update faster, and we all know how awesome that is! Hey! I'll make a deal! If I reach 17 reviews then I will update as soon as I know! Okay? Great! Ta ta for now!


	10. Contemplations

This chapter is dedicated to Ro0tin4Kagome. Congratulations for being the 17th reviewer and making me update. Thanks for your review(s). How about….if I reach 30 reviews, I'll update as soon as I know I have? Deal? Great! Oh! Btw I changed my chapter names, didn't know if you guys noticed or not! But no confusion, same chapters, just different titles.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 10 Contemplations

As more and more of the conversation became unraveled, the more and more apparent it became of what Kikyo's intentions truly were. And the more and more Inuyasha heard of the said conversation, the more and more infuriated he became. _'She doesn't believe that does she?' _These thoughts continued to plague his mind even as his gaze drifted towards Kikyo. It was noted how her eyes were shining with something undecipherable; it was as if she was getting some kind of sadistic enjoyment out of watching Kagome suffer. Why was she doing this? Had she truly turned so evil that she would enjoy torturing someone as innocent as Kagome? She beyond doubt had truly been changed for the worst. As he continued to watch the scene unfold in the mirror, Inuyasha recalled what Naraku had said earlier about Kagome and how she could be "of use to them". His eyes narrowed in barely suppressed rage as he remembered the way Naraku had spoken of Kagome; as though she was his for the taking. _'Mine!' _His demon side could barely be contained when Naraku's other declaration came to mind, the declaration of how Kagome would be his mate. _'That bastard! Like that is going to happen. Kagome would never join their side let alone be that baboon's mate.' _His vision became hazy as the thought of Kagome with someone else filtered through his mind, he shook his head trying to dispel those thoughts, this was not the time to be thinking like that.

"You stupid little girl, you will never be good enough for him, you know it, I know it, and yes…even he knows it." As the words finally registered through Inuyasha's mind, everything else seemed to not matter. It was as if the world had come to a complete stop. How _dare _she. Kikyo had absolutely no right to be talking like that to Kagome. It was not her decision to make, nor was it any of her business. Not to mention, if anything it was the other way around, he isn't good enough for Kagome, him being a half-breed and all. He had nothing to offer her; all he had was a sword and the clothes on his back. All he would be able to give to her was his protection, and apparently he could not even do that right seeing the position that they were currently in. His thoughts screeched to an abrupt halt when there was a sudden increase in the lighting. He had to look away from the mirror it was so bright! What was that? His ears flattened to his skull when it seemed that the whole world was coming to an end. So loud. So loud. He could barely hear the cries of Miroku and Sango as the earth itself seemed to shake from the outburst. His eyes squinted open as the glare from the blast had died down. As his eyes became fully open, now adjusting to the atmosphere around him, he noticed that far off in the distance, he could see somewhat of an unearthly pink light; it seemed like that was where the blast had originated from. But hadn't the blast come from inside of the mirror…? All it once it clicked, his eyes widening at the realization, if the blast had come from inside of the mirror and also from outside, somewhere in the distance…than that must mean that the location of Kagome came from both places. He now knew where Kagome was! _'They must be close by!_ As the knowledge of this new discovery soon ebbed away however, he realized he was still being tied down by Naraku's tentacles, he also came to the realization that there was no way he could actually get to Kagome given the situation he was in…Dammit!

The light had now completely faded from sight, no longer even being in the distance, the mirror once again became the limelight of attention. As the images slowly became focused, Inuyasha looked on in horror, smothering a gasp at what he saw in the mirror, fervently hoping it was not as bad as it portrayed itself to be. Miroku and Sango had no such trouble; gasping and showing just how much of what they saw shocked them. The area where the light had touched had looked as if it had been burned, scorched, everything was demolished. It looked as if it was a battlefield, some of the areas still smoking in the aftermath of the blaze. As comprehension slowly dawned on him, Inuyasha's breath hitched within his chest as he noticed that Kagome was no where to be found. His eyes searched frantically for any sign of life; any clue as to where Kagome might be. Wait…what was that? There! As the smoke cleared a body soon made itself stand out among the rubble. Sango made a sound in the back of her throat when realizing that the body was Kagome's and yet she wasn't moving. She was so still…so very still, one had to wonder if she had ever been alive at all. In shock Inuyasha's breath quickened and he found his mouth to be suddenly dry. _'No…' , _the one small word replaying in his mind over and over again. All throughout his life he had been shunned because of what he was; cursed for the being that he had become. And yet, he could barely remember any of that; could barely remember a time when Kagome wasn't with him. She was the constant in his life; she was the thing that made everything automatically better with just one look, one smile, one glance. To picture his life without her, he couldn't…it was just too hard to do. His life would be nothing. She was his weakness, his strength, his love, his _life. _He prayed to any god above and beyond that she was alright, but she was lying so still, so very still. A sense of foreboding sprang upon him, _'No…no, no, no, no…' _Kagome would be fine! Kagome was always fine! Kagome couldn't be…Kagome couldn't be de…she couldn't NOT wake up because, because Kagome was forever. (a/n: Celonhael)

'_It appears as if the little miko is more powerful than expected, this will work to my advantage. I have all the information I need… Soon Kagome, very soon.'_ As the swarm of poisonous insects surrounded him, he gave one final glance to Inuyasha, and then was gone from sight.

Considering the tentacles were technically apart of Naraku, it seems that when Naraku himself disappeared, the tentacles holding Inuyasha and the rest of the group fell away and turned to nothing but dust. At first, anything anyone was able to do was just stand there in silent awe at everything that had just transpired, not believing it to be true.

"Inuyasha! Did you see the light over there off in the distance? To the right?" Miroku's voice snapped both Inuyasha and Sango back to the present. The sword having been thrown from his side during the confrontation with Naraku was sitting of towards the side in it's original form. Desperately needing to both find Kagome and make sure his demon side didn't become dominate, he lunged for it without second thought; the minute his finger tips touched the sword his demon blood was once again in check and a small relief formed inside of him. That would have just made the day if his demon had been unleashed.

"Yeah, I'm going to go look for Kagome, you and Sango follow, you'll just slow me down." With that being said He turned quickly and bounded off into the forest in order to search for his Kagome. The trees were just a blur of colors as he raced with all the speed he could muster up praying to everything he thought holy that she was alright. His thoughts were consumed by Kagome. Was she alright? Was she hurt? Was she even still there? His pace quickened as his anxiety heightened to a place beyond reach. _'I swear Kagome, you better be alive or I'll never forgive you…' _As his thoughts trailed off he noticed that he was close to where he had seen the light coming from, he was almost there, it should be around here some...his mouth dropped open while his ears worked quickly atop his head.

To say that the clearing looked like a battle area that had been mutilated would have been putting things too kindly. There was not an inch of land that was not covered in some sort of debris; smoke and ash were in the air and every time Inuyasha inhaled, his lungs burned. The tress could no longer be called as such and the grass was non-existent. Inuyasha looked on in awe…had Kagome done all of this? Certainly not…

He noted that Kikyo was no longer there, and at that moment considered it, for her, to be a blessing, given the fact that he would not have been responsible for his actions if she _had_ been present. But Kikyo was not what concerned him right now, she was not the person he was trying so desperately to look for, nor was she one who made his breath and heart stop simultaneously when he finally caught a hold of her scent. His head swung towards the direction of the scent just as homed in on her position. She was lying in the middle of the clearing, apparently unharmed, except for that of the previous injuries she had sustained. Her clothes seemed oddly free of ash and other junk that was littering the area, and at that point one could tell she had been the source of "detonation", or where the explosion had first started, considering the outward direction of the scorch marks surrounding her and her dirt-free clothing.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Shaking her shoulder and trying not to panic, Inuyasha silently pleaded with her to open her eyes, to say something that would give any indication as to what she was feeling and if she was alright. After a few seconds, or minutes, he didn't really pay attention to the time; he decided that this method was not working seeming as how she had yet to make any sign or clue as to how her health was. He picked her up easily, one arm under her knees, while the other around her shoulders, and sprinted towards Kaede's hut. She would know what to do. As he continued to run, he would steal glances at her face, noticing how she looked as though she was sleeping. And if he were an ordinary person, that is exactly what he would have thought, but Inuyasha was anything but ordinary, especially when it came to the woman he was currently holding I his arms. When he looked closer he realized there were dirt smears and dry tear tracks upon her face, he could easily tell she had been crying. This pained him more than anything ever could; her tears hurt his soul, even more so when he knew that the reason she had been crying was because of him. To him, it was just a waste of salt, she should never have cried for him; he wasn't worthy. But then again, Kagome always did things he thought unreasonable, such as helping strangers, crying so easily, being friends with Kouga, things he just didn't approve of. And no matter how much he griped about it, he still loved her for it, more than ever. But he could still do without the crying...

He glanced down once more, wondering how and why she had been able to believe those things Kikyo had told her when they were so obviously a lie. _'Well you haven't exactly proved to her any different have you?' _He sighed inwardly; he was just a great fool. And it didn't help but make matters worse when he realized his conscious had sounded suspiciously like Shippo.

His eyes were drawn once more to her face, she was so innocent, and kind, and caring, the list could just continue. He grimaced when he understood the thought of how He might have just lost her for good this time, which pushed his feet to move faster. Yet, even with all of the uncertainties, and unspoken words, Kagome should have been able to know that none of those said things were true. Hadn't she told him once that actions were noisier than words, or, whatever? He treated her as though she was a mate, he brought her food, sheltered her, protected her, what was there not to get? Was he not being clear enough? He had even tried to tell her he loved her, but had chickened out and said it "I like you" instead, how lame. And even then she hadn't believed him, if he had told her "I love you", would it have been any different? Perhaps he should have enforced it more instead of letting her walk away? There had been too many interruptions and the stupid perverted monk would have inevitably turned up right at that moment, so what was the point?

He growled low in his throat, stupid idiots, he didn't need to deal with that right now. Kagome needed to be tended to. He was already having to battle his demon blood considering it was raging inside of him; telling him to just go and take care of his mate all by his self, he didn't need any help! Everyone else would just get in the way, as they had before. However, he couldn't give into his demon's demands; he couldn't be that selfish, Kagome's life was on the line and he couldn't risk it because he wanted to be heroic. He didn't know what was wrong with her. If he had just gone and taken her some where, what would that solve? He couldn't help her when he didn't know what to cure. His mind settled, tamping down on his demon blood, he rushed ever closer to Kaede's, hoping that it wasn't too late.

'_The herbs seem to be very good this year…' _Kaede placed another herb in the basket, this one was particularly good for healing the aching throat. She glanced up from her work when she heard her name yelled in the distance. Her calmed expression immediately turned into a frown when she noticed who's call she had responded to. Inuyasha rarely carried Kagome in that manner, yet when he did, the situation more oft' then not turned out to be troublesome.

"Inuyasha what ails ye? What happened to young Kagome?" Already on the way to her hut, Kaede looked toward Kagome, and recognized the signs immediately. She had experienced this many a time in her life. The child had simply used too much of her spiritual energy and had inadvertently purified herself into unconsciousness. One in her expertise could very easily tell the signs: pale complextion, still form, clamy skin...these symptoms could also be linked to common colds, yet a miko such as herself, could clearly see Kagome's aura, that is normally a very vibrant pink, had dimmed to the point of where it was barely visible. That was the symptom that tipped the scale; she could tell the child had used to much of her spiritual power and would be in need of rest. As she was gathering the supplies she would need in order to help heal Kagome's flesh wounds, Inuyasha had retold the events of what took place, and even though hating it, he did not leave out any details for fear of Kaede misdiagnosing Kagome. Now was not the time to be shy about people "minding their own business". Kagome's life was much more important.

"So what's wrong with her?!" The tale had already been told and most of Kagome's fleshly wounds had already been tended to, yet Kaede said nothing as she continued to work silently. It was heavily grating his already frayed nerves. Just as he was about to yell at her once more, she spoke, breaking the silence that had once again become too deafening.

"It appears as though Naraku was indeed right about one thing. Her anger does fuel her power, I have seen things of this nature before, yet not so strong. It is only understandable that when she became angry with Kikyo, she had released that power with out even knowing what had been happening. That in turn caused the damage ye saw at the clearing. As to why Kagome is not yet waking is only due to the fact that it has completely drained her of her energy. Therefore it will be a few days until she wakes up and ye will be able to speak with her." Kaede stood up once finished with Kagome's injuries, which were many, yet not deathly harmful,

"Oi! Does that mean when Kagome gets mad at me- I mean us, us! That now she will try to purify us?" That thought did not sit well with him considering they fought on a daily basis. He knew Kagome would never intentionally hurt any of them, but given how angry he made her, regularly, he figured that that couldn't be good for his health.

"I see no point in being worried about that child. Kagome gets mad at ye all the time and yet she has not purified ye as of yet, has she?" At his nod, she continued, her voice rasping, "It is only when she is truly angered by something great; her enemies are what anger her the most. In all honestly I think her power could rival that of ye sword, or at least be equal in strength. I have witnessed many spiritual powers in my life time and yet none can compete with that of young Kagome's." As if struck suddenly speechless, Inuyasha just awed off into space. How could Kagome be as powerful as his sword? That was simply impossible! There was no way. However, when the memories of what had been witnessed at the clearing surfaced in his mind, doubts did begin to arise. The possibility that Kagome could rival his own strength was just unbelievable. Inuyasha shifted silently towards Kagome, being as close as he possibly could without being intimate or suspicious. Kaede silently chuckled at his antics as she left. The young lad was so in love. He would stand guard over her, making sure that nothing could harm her, for he was her protector. He crossed his arms, his sword lying in the crook of one, and made himself comfortable.

And this was how it stayed for three days, Kagome was still unconscious. Inuyasha was as valiant as ever, just sitting and pondering over things, either involving Kagome or how he was going to rip Naraku to shreds, those thoughts often left him feeling better, thinking of all the ways he could maim him. By the first day at sundown Miroku and Sango had arrived at Kaede's. Upon their arrival Kaede explained to them what she had explained to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha in the meantime, had done what he had the first time she had used too much energy. He didn't leave her side except for small intervals, nor did he get any rest, there was too much of a risk of her waking up and him not being the first one she laid eyes on. The others tried to coax him into sleeping, rarely they had managed to get him to eat something, but it had been very minimal. He had not explained to them his reasons, it was none of their business. No one else could take care of her, or watch over her, because he simply would not allow it. He did not say why, it was none of their business. What was different this time than all of the others? He did not give them an answer; it was none of their business. What did they not get about it being none of their business?! Kami knows he had yelled it enough times. They didn't need to know that he thought if he wasn't there Kagome would fade away. They didn't need to know that he worried about her every second she took another breath, fearing that she wouldn't inhale the next. Kaede had said she just needed rest, yet, he was…he was…scared. He was terrified even. She hadn't woken up in such a long time. He was scared at the thought of losing her, of never getting the chance to tell her he loved her. He was just _scared_. But…um…they didn't need to now that…

A split second, a flutter of movement, a soft sigh, things of such inconsistency but couldn't have been anything short of heavenly to the poor hanyou who was valiantly trying to control his raging emotions and the sudden, annoying stinging in his eyes as he saw Kagome's subtle movement.

"Kagome?!" Not wanting to scare her, but just too excited to keep his emotions in check, Inuyasha got right in her face, as close as he could without actually touching her.

"Ow…my head hurts." A hand rose to massage the temples of her head, her skin looking deathly pale from the light filtering in from window, said light was also giving said woman an irritable headache. Inuyasha, apparently taking notice to this, quickly moved from his position near her and pulled the covering over the opening. As he moved back towards her he decided to try and not act too excited to see her, wouldn't want her getting the wrong impression. He was satisfied with just kneeling next to her, knowing she was alive and well.

"Kagome…." The name was uttered so softly that Kagome could have sworn it was just a figment of her imagination. She tried to fight back the ugly feeling of detest when hearing her name from his lips, knowing that he was probably only feeling guilty. Wait…guilty? For what? All she remembered was the darkness while looking at Kik…As suddenly as the statement popped into her mind, so did the memories that accompanied it. The pain, the fear, the anguish, the darkness it all engulfed her so suddenly it was hard to breathe.

"Kagome! W-Wait! Don't cry!" Tears streamed down her face as her breathing was coming in short gasps. She couldn't stop. For the life of her she couldn't stop. And oh, how she wanted to. It hurt. Everything hurt. She couldn't breath, didn't want to, the pain in her heart rivaled anything else. All she could do was cry, weep, gasp, and wish for the darkness once more…

Inuyasha didn't know what to do, so did the only thing he thought of. He took her into his arms and cradled her as one would a lost child. His instinct told him what to do next, a feeling of what you would do for someone you care about, for a mate. While rocking her back and forth, he started to growl softly in her ear. It was a comforting sound, soothing and easing away her fears. The anxiety died down a little, realizing that Inuyasha would protect her from the evils of her mind. The crying did not stop entirely, however the majority of the flow certainly minimized.

Not wanting to say anything that might disrupt the moment again, or worse, Inuyasha kept silent except for the continuous growling. There was so much that needed to be said, He need to let her know that what had Kikyo said wasn't true, to tell her that he loved her and wanted her as a mate. But he supposed all of that could wait, she was not in the right state of mind to answer his questions or think clearly. Unless she asked, he wasn't going to tell her anything. (a/n: very stupid logic)

Kagome had been thinking along the same lines when Kaede came walking through the door, sparing her the embarrassment of having to find a way out of Inuyasha's lap and onto the futon, Kaede had, of course, noticed the position but did not say anything in regards to it, knowing both children were shy and she might do some serious damage if she did. A small smile graced her features and she moved forward.

"How are ye child?" Kagome started, realizing she was the one being spoken to. She quickly got out of Inuyasha's lap, not wanting to talk whilst sitting there, it was just a tad bit…awkward. Inuyasha on the other hand was disappointed that she moved considering he liked having her there. His face turned scarlet when he realized what it must have looked like. At least Miroku hadn't come in…

"I'm fine I guess, a little sore…and tired." The yawn she gave out proving her point. "What exactly happened to me?"

Realizing that this would be a lengthy conversation, Kaede came and, slowly, sat down in front of Kagome. Noticing where the others were, and that he was no longer part of it, Inuyasha moved to sit next to Kagome, his thigh brushing up against hers, she blushed.

"Ye just over exerted yerself when using ye power child." In reality, Kagome had been expecting this, noting how drained she still felt. Perhaps that was the burning sensation she had felt? Her power wanting to be let out…

Prior to Kagome's waking up, the gang had come together and had decided that when Kagome became conscious once more, they would leave out a few parts of what they had discovered. It was so much to take in, and with Kagome just recovering it would more than likely shock her. There were many questions still unanswered that they themselves did not even know. They were not going to burden her with any more worry than she already carried. What had been learned, about her anger connecting to her power and such things, would be told to her at a later time, when she was more stable as to take it all in.

"Unfortunately Naraku and my sister now know that you have much more spiritual power than first believed." At the mention of Kikyo Inuyasha had started growling. It still in a way, seemed so surreal that He couldn't believe what she had put Kagome through. It was hard to change your perspective about someone in such a short time, but he supposed that he had known all along about Kikyo's personality, he had just never wanted to believe it before this.

"I think that Kikyo wanted to awaken the power that resides in ye in order for it to serve her and Naraku's later purposes."

"…well if I hadn't been so weak then maybe Kikyo wouldn't have been able to get the reaction out of me that she did." Inuyasha's gaze snapped back to Kagome, not fully comprehending what he had just heard. There was an underlying anger to her voice, like she was mad at herself for letting it happen. Her anger, in an odd way, just fueled Inuyasha's, she was not to blame! What an idiot! _'Stupid girl! It wasn't her fault how can she…' _Apparently not realizing Inuyasha was glaring at her, either that or ignoring him, Kagome abruptly rose from her position, a little wobbly at first, considering she hadn't used her legs in almost a week, but then once regaining her balance, disappeared outside of the hut. He was about to go after her and give her a piece of his mind when Kaede stopped him.

"Inuyasha maybe ye can help her feel less guilty, I could not. She truly believes it was her fault. Maybe she will believe ye." Before Kaede had even finished speaking he had already nodded and had walked out of the hut in search for her. Not making him self known just yet, he followed her for some distance wondering where she might be headed. His anger had some what cooled, realizing that in a way, even admitting only to himself, it was a little unjustified, but only a little! As she continued to walk, he studied her form, just watching how she moved, how graceful her movements were.

'_She is so beautiful' _Without even noticing it, he realized that she had stopped. He took note of his surroundings, they were near a small river on the outskirts of the village, she kneeled over and sat down with her feet under her, knees bent. He watched her while she watched her reflection. As he was about to make himself known, she let out a poorly suppressed scream of frustration and slapped the water, making the surface ripple uncontrollably while getting her wet from the spray of the water.

"Ugh! I hate looking like this, I hate being like this, I hate having her face, her body, her soul! I hate being her!" Before he was even aware of what he was doing, he had burst through the trees, shocking himself almost as much as he had shocked her.

"Don't you _dare_ say you're her, because you're not!" He praised himself inwardly, he had just told her what he wanted to, without messing it up! She wasn't Kikyo. Kikyo was cold, unemotional, and Kagome was the exact opposite, the woman he loved. It was a compliment actually.

"You're right, I will never be as good as her will I?" It became apparent that she had obviously taken it the wrong way, well of course she had, it was Kagome... she was so _difficult! _Growling, he jumped at her at an attempt to make her believe him, to listen and not think the wrong things. It ended up to where she was on her back, barely missing the water, while he was straddling her hips. She blushed at the compromising position but said nothing and looked away intending to give him the silent treatment, if he wanted to be a jerk about it, fine! She could be just as jerk-ish if not more... She was holding out pretty well until he grabbed her chin roughly, startling her. His hold was strong, not enough to hurt her, but enough to prove that he was very serious. His eyes were darkened to crisp amber and she fought the battle to not become lost in them.

"Look at me. I meant that she will never compare to you, that _she _can never be as good as _you_." Desperately wanting to believe him, yet not wanting to be fooled by his antics she tried to hold out. She had been fooled for so long.

"You don't mean that, you're just saying it!" It was unclear to Inuyasha whether or not Kagome was trying to tell him this, or if she was just trying to convince herself of this.

"UGH! Kagome! How can you believe that?! Are you stupid? After all that we have been through how can you still believe that?!" His anger was a palpable thing; she was frustrated and yet so was he. It was infuriating to make someone understand your feelings towards them when they never wanted to believe them!

"Oh yeah…you given me so much reason to believe you."

Ouch. Her tone had been sarcastic and dry and completely unpleasant.

"No, and I regret that, but now I am and you won't believe me!" Inuyasha had to hold himself back from just strangling the stupid wench! Was her head really that thick?

"I'm sorry but it's a little hard to believe that after this long of you telling me one thing, that I am supposed to just go and believe another? I can't do that!"

"Well try to because we can't be together until you do!" Time froze. And breaths stopped. She was looking up at him with some undecipherable emotion flashing behind her eyes, was it hope? Wonder? He couldn't tell. But suddenly he found the tree behind her to be the most interesting thing in the world._'He can't mean that, he can't mean that, he can't mean that…'_ She just kept chanting that one sentence in her head over and over, like a sacred mantra that she couldn't let go of. But just saying something and feeling something are completely two different things. She wanted to jump, to run around, she wanted to sing! She had long ago realized that when Inuyasha became angry, he would most likely say something he didn't mean to; something more true than he would like to admit. And he had just done it, again. Did he really want to be with her? He couldn't right? He wanted to be with Kikyo didn't he? For these past years, he had only ever wanted Kikyo…what could have changed that in just a few short days, the answer was…nothing. No one could change how they felt about some one for 50 plus years in just a few days, that was not possible. His caring about her and wanting to be with her…they weren't possible either.

"You don't want to be with me, Inuyasha." She looked away from him, not wanting to see his face, but when the silence became too heavy she had to glance at him, to see what his reaction was. When their eyes met, that was the moment he had been waiting for, He finally let down the shield that had been up for so long, the barrier that he had hid behind for fear of being rejected for all of these years. He finally let his eyes show what he felt inside, begging with her to see just how much he cared about her. Her sudden intake of breath was exactly the reaction he had been waiting for. Maybe she understood now? Was it possible?

'_Could he…could he really?' _She didn't want to hope…he probably….no! There would not be any more jumping to conclusions for her! No more! That only led to trouble and more frustration than she was ready for at the moment. She wanted to know; to have an answer of finality.

"Do you really care about me, Inuyasha?" Hoping she didn't sound to eager, praying that she got the answer she deserved , and wishing that he would just tell her and quit staring!

"I…I care about you so much Kagome. So much…" He still couldn't say the dreaded "L" word, but in time, maybe he would. His barriers and shields and defenses had been up for so long that he just couldn't get past that last hurdle. Slowly but surely Kagome had broken down them all, and slowly, in time, he would tell her how he truly felt, but not right now. He just was too…scared to do it. He broke out of his reverie as he noticed the scent of salt in the air, his eyes widened in horror when he came the realization of Kagome sniffling.

"Oi! Don't cry, c'mon I hate it when you cry!" What had he done now? Did she still not believe him? When she opened her eyes, he was so relieved to see their old shine to them back. She had turned back to the old Kagome she once was. Her eyes shined with a new light as well, it was love. He gasped slightly at the realization. Just seeing how she looked at him he wondered how he could have ever been so blind, she loved him. She truly loved him, a hanyou. The way she looked, with her hair disarrayed and spread out behind her, her eyes sparkling with the love that shone only for him. This moment would forever be engraved in his memory. This was the most precious moment of his entire life, and right now they were no longer a hanyou or a priestess or an outcast or a schoolgirl, they were just a boy and a girl who were madly in love with one another. His breath died as his mouth bent nearer to her own, and Kagome silently pleaded that her breath was not as smelly as she thought it was. Their eyes drifted closed at the exact same time, and Inuyasha could practically taste her already, just a little closer and the moment would be perfect…

"INUYASHA!!!!KAGOME!!!!" …Shippo.

Please read and review! The magic number is 30 this time. That's only 7 reviews! (O.O)


	11. Leisure

Hey guys! Sorry, long time no see! I actually was so busy with school and then i went on vacation for three weeks and then i was hit by a car. I really don't recommend doing that actually. It wasn't too fun. Broken arm, not cool. Anyways, that's why i haven't updated, hope that you guys can forgive me! Anyways, on with the show! And i hope, i swear i hope, that it won't be this long till another update.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 11 Leisure

When Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo arrived back at the hut, it already appeared that Sango and Miroku were already there as well. However, also by this time, Inuyasha was thoroughly infuriated. He was silently fuming as he sat down in his favorite spot up against the wall, penetrating holes into the back of Shippo's head the entire time. The stupid kit had to have the most impeccable timing Inuyasha had ever seen. Shippo glared right back from his spot in Kagome's arms. He didn't know why Inuyasha was so upset with him, he really hadn't done anything. But if he wanted to glare at him and be a big meanie, than that was fine with him. He could take him. With Kagome's help, oh yeah, he could take him…but with the way he was glaring at him, perhaps he would stay a safe distance away, like at the other end of the village, just to be sure…

Sensing the tension in the air, Kagome sat down sighing, giving a side long glance towards the two. It sure had gotten a lot colder in that hut since they first arrived. She remembered back to the scene in the forest and blushed; she had come so close to kissing Inuyasha. The feeling in the pit of her stomach came back, something akin to having a million butterflies fluttering all over the place. She had certainly never felt that way before, and most defiantly not with any other of the male species. But the butterflies soon turned to guilt when she also remembered how she had to repeatedly sit Inuyasha several times, _'9 I think', _just so he wouldn't clobber Shippo. The guilt continued to churn inside of her and bubbled up even more considering she had been so close, so _tempted, _to just letting him do it, to letting him get away with hitting the child and not stopping him. Inuyasha was not the only one who was a little mad about how the scene had abruptly ended. That would have been her first kiss, after all, had Shippo not come along.

"Kagome I am so happy that you are well!" Sango decided it was time to intervene before things got even worse than they apparently already are. She had been watching the two glaring demons (one half-demon), and an uncomfortable, blushing Kagome, for quite some time and realized that something must have happened between them. It really wasn't any of her business, but she _was _curious. She knew Kagome would tell her when she was ready, and right now didn't seem like the best time to bring it up anyways. So instead, Sango ran over and gave Kagome a hug, silently telling her that everything would be alright without saying it. Kagome received the message, and hugged her back.

For the duration of the time that Inuyasha and Kagome had been away Kaede had notified both Sango and Miroku of Kagome's current condition and that they were not to mention anything to her about what had happened; that it would be best if she did not know about it for the time being.

"_The poor child has so much that she is already worrying about, I suggest that ye not give her another burden to bare upon her shoulders right now." _Kaede had been very concerned about what it would do to Kagome if she were to know, and about how much stress she was already under.

Sango and Miroku had readily agreed with Kaede, and approved that that certain subject would not be brought up into any of their conversations. Sango was a little uncomfortable, however, with keeping something from her best friend. It was not at all like them. She was not used to keeping secrets from Kagome; they always told each other everything. It was going to be difficult, but for Kagome, she was willing to sacrifice her own peace of mind, so that Kagome may have her own.

Moreover, all decided that a few days off from shard hunting was certainly in order. This way Kagome would have some more time in order to heal and the others could take a much needed break themselves. It worked out for both sides. It was already a known fact that this idea would certainly not settle well with Inuyasha, however, Miroku had quickly amended saying that if they use their "trump card" then he would not be able to say no. In the time that they had known Kagome, she would bring not only devices and snacks back from her world, but also that of certain words and phrases that were foreign to the group. Yet over time, most if not all of them were surely using these phrases, one of them being the "trump card"; the meaning of "trump card" is, to the extent of: a reason or thing that will always be used against a person in order to get another person's way. According to Miroku, though, the "Trump Card" was always Kagome, because whenever they used Kagome as an excuse, they could just about get the half-demon to do anything. And this situation was no different.

"Ah, Kagome it is good to see that you are up and moving. You had us worried my friend." Miroku shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts and images of Kagome and Sango hugging each other. His hand was twitching as it reached out on its own accord. _'Must Resist all temptation', _but alas, the poor monk could not lift the curse from his perverted hand (or mind).

….

….

….

Kagome's startled scream split the air and Inuyasha was beside her in a flash, checking to make sure if she was alright, while Sango beat him to the punch, literally. Yet, that did not stop Inuyasha from adding another growing bump to the monk's already swollen noggin. Miroku slumped down to the ground and looked up at the trio impishly, grinning slightly. Why did his accursed hand always go for Kagome? It was Sango he wanted, not to mention, Inuyasha hit _way _harder. Did he have a death wish? It was a wonder that he didn't have any brain damage.

"Touch her again monk, and see what happens…" Inuyasha left the threat hanging in the air, Miroku frowned some what; that had been different. The whole reaction was entirely different actually. He knew for a fact that Inuyasha was protective of Kagome, yet, his ears were pinned back, and he had been snarling when he had threatened him. That was not the type of response he had been waiting for. The response with which he received was…actually kind of…frightening. Taking note of how close both Inuyasha and Kagome were standing to each other, their outward thighs resting against one another, and how neither seemed to notice, he had to ponder if they had somehow gotten closer while they had been gone in that short amount of time. _'I will question Inuyasha about my discovery later.' _He glanced towards Sango and saw she was glaring even worse than Inuyasha…oh yeah…he would question Inuyasha _much _later.

"Inuyasha," deciding that ignoring the monk was the best way to try and **not **kill him, for if he opened his mouth he would surely regret it, Sango decided to pop the question, "I think it would be in Kagome's best interest if we rested here for a few days, so that she may heal properly." Mentally preparing herself for the fight she knew was about to break out, the "trump" card only pushed him so far; he was still Inuyasha, after all, she was surprised with his response.

"Fine. But no more than four days, Naraku's still out there. The longer we wait the closer he gets to having the whole jewel." The entire time he was talking, he was looking at Kagome with a look, that….you just didn't know what that look was, it was softer and more tame than anything anyone of them had seen before. Miroku and Sango were acting like fishes out of water, their mouths opening and closing like they couldn't breathe. _That_ was certainly different than expected. Shippo just rolled his eyes, adults, he never would get them. One minute Kagome and Inuyasha are screaming at each other, the next they are looking all lovey-dovey. He put his paws up to his head, great, now he has a headache.

Kagome was also staring up at Inuyasha as well; they both seemed to be in their own little world, sort of speak. Miroku cleared his throat to get their attention. Kagome looked away blushing, while Inuyasha just smirked, looking as if he had just won some silent staring battle. This confused the occupants of the hut even more because his reaction was different as well. More often than not, when Inuyasha was caught staring at Kagome, or in a "moment" with her, he would start sputtering and go stomping off to pout. He would certainly _not _be looking like the cat that just got the canary.

'_She looks so cute when she blushes'_ that was the only thought Inuyasha had as he sat back down in his usual corner, he wanted to sit closer to Kagome, yet he knew that he didn't want to rush things. It was better to leave them as they were. He was still confused as to what happened earlier, was she really going to let him kiss her? He growled silently realizing that now he would probably never know because of the stupid runt. He just has to ruin everything! Little brat….as he glanced back at Kagome though, his eyes softened and his anger left him. How could she do that? Make him feel pissed off one minute and then just by looking at her he turned into some sort of pansy! _'Great, I'm turning soft'. _But if being soft meant that he could stay with Kagome, then maybe, just maybe, he didn't care so much about his tough-guy act after all….

The first few days of their resting time were actually quite hot, it seemed as if some sort of heat wave had decided to hit the area. It was absolutely miserable. The group had to spend all of their time outside of the hut considering it was so muggy and humid inside. Not to mention Kaede had many sick villagers to help and needed the occupants to leave when she had a patient. Mostly they would sit under the shade, talking idly about unimportant things. That was the whole point of resting after all, to try and sit back and not worry about the things to come; to try and relax.

On the afternoon of their fourth day, however, the heat had finally gotten unbearable, almost to the point of where you could see it. Everyone was forced to strip down to lighter clothing. Miroku had to take off the top part of his monks robes, leaving the thinner, lighter blue part on. Sango had barrowed some clothing from Kagome considering all she had was her slayer outfit and her kimono, neither really all that lighter, so Kagome suggested that she use some of her own clothing, saying it was the least she could do considering all that Sango has done for her in the past.

Sango had been reluctant at first, she has seen what Kagome wears, and honestly, it is not too decent. From where Kagome comes from, it is an every day occurrence, or so Kagome says, yet she still finds it hard to believe that young women go around wearing such…_provocative _clothing. In this time, it would be considered rude, especially for a single woman. Yet, the heat was sweltering, and she did need cooler clothing, so at last, Sango gave in, borrowing some tan Capri's that went to her mid calf and a green tank top. She was blushing the whole time because never in her life had she shown this much skin. _'Kagome wears clothing like this all of the time, I don't know how she does it!' _She swore her face was going to be a permanent red color for the rest of her life, even worse is when the monk noticed what she was wearing and had to knock him unconscious in order to keep his wandering hands away from her.

Inuyasha took off the top part of his haori along with his under shirt, only adorned in his pants. Kagome had to resist touching him, sure she had seen his top half before, but that was only when she was bandaging him….or when she accidentally caught him bathing, but that was only twice! She blushed realizing where her thoughts had taken her and glanced once more at Inuyasha who was currently lounging under a tree. She had never noticed how perfect his skin was, she wished that she had the ability to not scar…She wiped her sweaty palms off on her short blue jeans shorts that she was wearing. They were modest, along with her white tank top. She had decided to go Sango's route, though, and pull up her hair into a pony-tail so that it got off of the back of her neck.

She was unawares however, that Inuyasha was silently watching her too; she wasn't the only one with thoughts of seeing more skin….

"Whew, it is really burnin' up out here; today would be a perfect day for a swim." Of course, Kagome was just speaking figuratively, really it was too much of a hassle to try and get everyone to comply with going to the river and swimming. Not to mention, trying to help everyone get into their bathing suites that she had brought them from her time. Laughing to herself, she remembered what had happened the first time she decided to buy them bathing suites.

**Flashback**

"_Hey guys! Look what I bought you!" Kagome pulled out 4 white boxes with an unfamiliar logo on the top of it. Her friends stared at her as she passed out the gifts._

"_Oh, Kagome, you didn't have to get us anything." Sango had just received hers and was beginning to open it secretly excited that her best friend had gotten her another gift. Sango had always loved surprises when she was younger, and she still did to this very day. She would have to get Kagome something in return, now._

"_Lady Kagome, is there another celebration that you are celebrating in your time? Is this the reason for the gifts?" _

"_Miroku, can't I just get something nice for all of my friends without having to have a reason?" Kagome handed Inuyasha his box, and sat down, eagerly awaiting the look on their faces. Yet, when she heard Inuyasha scream and throw the box away from him like he had been burned, she supposed that she would probably be getting a different reaction out of them than first expected. _

"_Kagome! That's Indecent! You can't go buying me under-things!" Inuyasha looked completely aghast, which soon turned to horror when he realized that she had bought some "under-things" for Miroku as well. He jumped over and snatched the box from the puzzled looking Monk. _

"_Wha-Hey! That's mine!" Miroku tried to jump and grab his box from the half-demon; he hadn't even got to look yet!_

"_Uh…Kagome?" Kagome looked away from the battling males only to start cracking up when she saw Shippo with his little, green swimming trunks on his head. He looked at her puzzled as to what he was supposed to do with them and wondering why she was laughing. He was the absolute picture of cuteness. _

_Hearing Sango gasp however, was what brought her attention to her other friend. Sango's face the brightest shade of red she had ever seen. _

"_Kagome…I don't really…um…" The poor slayer was at a loss for words when she looked at the black, one peace bathing suite. She looked like she just wanted to throw it away from her, yet resisting the urge because she knew that it would probably hurt Kagome's feelings. So instead, she held the thing the farthest she could away from her, trying not to show just how uncomfortable she really was. _

_Kagome sighed, and looked at the mess she had created, she thought it was a good idea. Whenever it was too hot, swimming sounded like a perfect idea, yet, they had to do it alone because they didn't have the proper swimming wear. She wanted to have fun with her friends, not swim alone. So, she decided to buy them some bathing suites. Apparently, though, her friends did not know what to do with them. Glancing once more over at Inuyasha and a now, bruised looking Miroku, she decided it was time to explain. _

"_Hey!" Catching everyone's attention she started explaining the use of the bathing suite and that for the last time, it was not under-things! Sango still looked embarrassed and Inuyasha looked completely uncomfortable. Miroku got a perverted look on his face when he saw Sango's and Shippo still had his on his head. Whew…if it was all that trouble to just explain it to them…how much trouble was it going to be to actually have them try the suites on? _

Kagome once again smiled to herself at the memory. She really loved them all, and remembering the first time they tried them on, it was priceless as well. She was just remembering how Inuyasha had come out with his shorts on, **on-top of**his regular clothing when Shippo decided he actually wanted to go.

"Oh yay! Can we go, can we go?" Shippo was thrilled to say the least, he had always loved to go swim in the river and to use the present Kagome had gotten for him. He never really understood why, but the adults had never seemed to use theirs. He always used his, but did they not like the present that Kagome had gotten for them?

"Well, do you guys want to go?" Kagome secretly wanted to go as well, but she knew how uncomfortable they all were with wearing the bathing clothes. That is why they really had never worn them before, except for once…and technically that didn't even count because after they saw each other, they blushed and ran the other way. Was it really worth it?

"I would really like to go!" Miroku waved his hands around frantically, knowing that swimming meant seeing Miss Sango in a depleted amount of clothing. Oh, how excited he was.

Sango looked over at Miroku warily, knowing his intention, but it was so _hot_. And swimming in the nice cold river sounded so refreshing. So, decision made, she told Kagome she would go. Inuyasha just "feh-ed" and with that they headed off to the river, Kagome grabbing their necessities along the way.

After arriving at the river, Kagome handed out to everyone their bathing suites. Going in separate directions, with a few threats from Sango aimed at Miroku, they went off to change.

Inuyasha was the first done, having remembered the last time to **not **put his swim trunks on top of his regular clothing. Having Kagome laugh at him that much made sure he never made the same mistake again. He was still unnerved though, he was never use to being this vulnerable. His fire-rat clothes were like armor. He doubted that this…red… thing could even hold up to a little poison from Sesshomaru. He sighed, knowing he would be uncomfortable all day.

Kagome came out next, wearing a two-piece yellow bathing suite. She had always loved the two-piece bathing suites, it always made her feel more free in the water. She loved the feeling of it, not being held back by anything. The straps criss-crossed in the front and then tied around the back of her neck; another tie was placed at the bottom of the first piece and tied behind her back to keep it in place. The bottom part of the suit was like short shorts. Inuyasha had to remind himself not to drool.

Miroku and Sango came out at the exact same time, Miroku with his lecherous grin, and Sango blushing all the way down to her toes. This was even worse than the clothes from earlier! She had never felt so embarrassed, she wondered if she ran away again if someone would catch her and drag her back. Her bathing suite certainly wasn't as revealing as Kagome's, for it was only a black one piece bathing suit that was normal cut with two straps, yet she was still undeniably uncomfortable. Especially with the way that Miroku was looking at her. She did have to admit though, glancing at him, he didn't look too bad in those purple swimming trunks he was wearing.

"Kagome, can we go in nowwwwwwww…?" Shippo had started whining, wanting to swim already. He didn't care if the older people wanted to act like idiots, gawking at each other, he just wanted to swim!

"Oh! Uh…sure Shippo, go on ahead!" Sango hadn't been the only one looking; Kagome had been preoccupied as well with a certain hanyou. After he was given the "okay", Shippo immediately dove in the water with his little funnel tube.

Sango and Kagome gradually got into the water, noticing that it was a tad bit chilly, and not wanting to freeze decided to take it slow. Inuyasha and Miroku just dove right in, those two always being the daring type. The girls just shook their heads at the antics. Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Kagome realized Inuyasha was gone only leaving Miroku. _'I wonder where he went?' _Kagome jolted out of her thoughts when she realized that Sango was talking to her.

"… really nice; this was a good idea Kagome." Kagome just smiled and nodded, hoping that she wouldn't be caught not paying attention. Currently, the two girls started to head towards the deeper part of the river, not too deep, where the rapids are, but just deep enough to where their shoulders could be submerged. Kagome glanced back at Shippo, who was in the shallow part of the river, making sure that she was okay. She felt more comfortable when she realized that Kirara was keeping an eye on Shippo while she was resting on the bank, not really liking the idea of getting wet. She was a cat demon, what do you expect?

"Yeah, I thought it would be ni--" Breaking off with a shriek, Kagome was suddenly dragged underneath the surface. Two hands were supporting her waste, her first instinct was too scream, yet being underwater that would not necessarily be a good idea. Unless she wanted to drown that is. So, she started fighting, wanting, needing, to get to the surface. Only when she saw a flash of red and silver did she calm down. Opening her eyes further, she had always been a good swimmer ever since she was younger; she looked into the amber eyes of Inuyasha. They stared at one another for a while longer, until he tilted his head, slowly bending forward, and only stopping when his lips had connected with hers.

Sango would have terrified for the safety of her friend had she not seen Inuyasha come up behind Kagome and then wink at her letting her know that he was up to something. So instead of doing anything to help, she just backed up a little bit, and thought of how much trouble the hanyou was going to be in. Miroku and her obviously thinking the same thing, started laughing at the pair who had yet to resurface.

Meanwhile, under the water, Inuyasha pulled back from Kagome and looked into her eyes. She had a dazed look on her face like she couldn't fully comprehend what had just happened. He smirked and ducked his head back down to kiss her again. Kagome responded eagerly this time, having been prepared for it. She didn't know what caused him to do this, but she wasn't complaining. It was the most wonderful thing in the world. But all good things must come to an end. They both became aware all too quickly that living things needed oxygen to breathe. The pulled apart and with Inuyasha's help, they both reached the surface, gasping for air, and not just from being underwater.

Miroku and Sango took one look at them and started laughing again. Not wanting to be too suspicious, and not really knowing if she wanted them to know that something was going on between her and Inuyasha, when in reality she didn't really know what was happening herself. She did the only thing she could think of at the moment. She yelled at him.

"What was that for you jerk! You could have drown me I can't believe you!" Even though her words seemed cruel though, Inuyasha didn't miss the sparkle in her eyes, or the way her face was still slightly red. Oh yeah, she had enjoyed the kiss just as much as he did.

"Oi wench, can't you just take a joke? I wouldn't have let you drown."

"Kagome….you should have…..seen your face!" Sango was gasping out between laughter her and Miroku were leaning on one another for support. _'It wasn't that funny'_ Kagome thought bitterly. Just then she looked back at Inuyasha and they both smirked and went over to the other two who obviously couldn't control themselves. In a flash Inuyasha grabbed both Miroku and Sango by their arms and lifted them up without breaking a sweat, then threw them back in the water. Now it was Kagome and Inuyasha's turn to crack up. For their faces of surprise were much more hilarious than Kagome's.

Miroku and Sango came back up coughing and sputtering, Miroku grabbing onto Sango for dear life. She just rolled her eyes and smiled at Inuyasha and Kagome. It was only fair, and water couldn't kill a person. Miroku however, apparently thought differently….

"That was certainly uncalled for Inuyasha." Miroku was obviously not too pleased that they had been thrown into the water.

"Yes….it….was…." Kagome replied all the while trying to subdue the laughter she was overcome with. Inuyasha finally stopped his own chuckling in order to look down at her. The sun was reflecting off of her wet hair and body, it looked like she was glowing. It was if she was untouchable, and that if anyone dared she would just shatter. She literally took his breath away. Finally noticing that he must have been staring he started blushing; also realizing Miroku was snapping his fingers in front of his face. He growled.

"Inuyasha…hello…? Is anyone in there?" Inuyasha thumped his head and pushed him in the water.

"Oi! Got a problem you stupid Monk?" Miroku came back up again, laughing because of the slightly red hue that adorned the hanyou's face.

After much delay, everyone finally got themselves under control, and the rest of the time just flew by without warning. All too soon was it time for them to start heading back. It wasn't a good thing to be caught in the forest at night, especially with so many demons lurking about. They gathered their things and headed back to the hut. Unknowingly, Inuyasha and Kagome had been walking at a slower pace which forced Sango into figuring that they wanted some alone time. Sango being a pro at getting Inuyasha and Kagome alone, some how accomplished this again, for soon enough it was only her and Inuyasha walking in the forest. She began to feel nervous. What was she supposed to say to him considering what had happened between them? Would everything be different now? And what was the kiss for? Was it because he liked _her _or was it because he was in love with Kikyo?

Kagome was walking in the midst of her own thoughts, when a sudden tug on her hand stopped her, she looked at her hand only to find that it was attached to a clawed one. She looked up at Inuyasha with a questioning gaze, not really wanting to have this conversation.

"I just wanted to let you know that none of the things Kikyo said were true." That was abrupt and to the point. Inuyasha…always the blunt one. Yet, there was something about his tone that made her believe him, even if she didn't really want to for fear of being hurt.

"…I know" She replied just as softly. She of course still had her doubts, but in all honesty she really did not want to ruin their day with the subject of Kikyo, they had had a perfect day, she was going to make it stay that way at all costs.

He stepped closer to her, now just in front of her, she looked up and he could feel her breath on his lips.

"I also want you to know, that I don't love her anymore, I don't think I ever did…I.." Her heart immediately jumped up into her throat as he continued to ramble on. She really didn't even hear what he was saying anymore. And all of a sudden his lips were upon hers. It was a soft, gentle, kiss, almost as if he was unsure about how she felt about him. She kissed him back, and heard him sigh against her lips. It was a sigh of relief, almost as if he was glad that he didn't have to talk anymore, he had never liked talking to begin with. Her arms went and circled around his neck, dropping the towels on the ground, as they kissed deeper. He licked her lips while he silently asked for entrance. She granted it as they both explored each others' mouths. She couldn't believe that they were here kissing in the middle of the forest. _'A perfect ending to a perfect day' _She sighed against his lips, she loved the feel of it. While on the other hand, Inuyasha was just in a completely different world. She tasted so good and he was enjoying every minute of it. They broke apart, both panting for air, and slightly blushing.

He wanted to ask her, he wanted to tell her. There were so many things inside of his head at the moment; he just needed to get them out. But where would he start? Was there even a beginning anymore? He was never good with words, never had been and never will be. And for a brief moment, he _almost _admitted that he was scared shitless. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it today, he was sure Kagome wouldn't mind. It could wait until later on. For right now, he just wanted to be happy, to be focused on one thing only, Kagome.

Kagome grabbed onto his hand, not really wanting to talk anymore this night, yes she still had millions of questions popping into her head, and yes there still needed to be things discussed. However, today had been…magical. And she didn't want to end it with something that would make her feel horrible once more. As they started walking back towards the village, hand in hand, she was happy, happy that if even if it was only for today, just for today, Inuyasha was hers…and hers alone.

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Okay! End of another chapter! Yes! Review if you can! I always (try) to update quicker when i get lots of reviews! Let's shoot for...40? Can we do that? Thanks! Till Next time!


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